Gifted With A Curse
by JunNoAce
Summary: Izuku and his mother moves in a new village in the country side. Izuku has the hobby of studying and learning about the mysteries behind magic, curses, etc. When his mother leaves and doesn't make it back home on time. Izuku worried searches for her and comes across an old castle. Here is where he meets him, a cursed Lord Katsuki filled with rage and with the appearance of a beast.
1. Prologue

"Fuck I'm hungry..."

It's just another night in the castle for the fourteen-year-old young Lord Katsuki as he makes his way to the hall to have dinner with his parents.

He had spent his day studying, practicing hand to hand combat, sword fighting, and archery. He was a natural in all areas and even tended to best his teachers once he got the feel of something new he learns from them.

Soon enough his annoying parents will have to just turn over the title as Warden to him so he can actually do something about this lame ass region they are ruling over. In his opinion, his parents lack of activity means that they don't know what the hell they are doing. He wants their land to improve exponentially, not stay the same.

He enters the hall with his usual confident stride as he heads to his seat at their large dinner table.

"It's about DAMN time brat! What the hell took you so long!" His mother, practically the mirror image of himself, yells at him as he purposely slows down and takes his sweet ass time to get into his seat.

"Shut the hell up woman, I had shit to do ALL DAY! Unlike the two of you I actually get shit done!" Katsuki settles in his seat with a grunt.

"Tch fucking brat! It's that attitude of yours that makes you so clueless."

"I ain't fucking CLUELESS. I know how to rule! I'm-!"

"Ok ok..." His father interrupts. "We've been over this before... we don't need to bicker over this again… Katsuki..."

He makes eye contact with the older man, feeling a bit annoyed but remains silent none the less.

"I know you feel that we need to do more for this region but that is not our duty nor is it necessary. It seems that I need to remind you. Our lands are prosperous, our people happy, and we have received no orders from our King to make any excessive changes. We have eyes all over our land and they let us know when something is amiss, and I assure you things have been great. We are in a time of peace with crime at a near nonexistence."

"Tch whatever..." Katsuki puts his elbow on the table and leans on his hand as he dismisses his father's words, as he has heard them over and over again before. They won't ever understand that he wants to be the best! So obviously the region he is to rule over one day must be the best as well. Not just be some lame ass farmland and nothing else.

Dinner is now served on the table by two female servers, one being a young girl with short wild curly pink hair.

Katsuki zones out while eating. Mitsuki and Masaru start talking about their activities of the day and what they must do to plan for Katsuki's birthday coming up next month.

The large wooden doors leading out to the front entryway suddenly opens. Eijirou, Katsuki's Hand to hand sparring partner enters the room. He politely bows his head before quickly speaking. "Sorry to interrupt your dinner my Lord's, M'lady, but we have an unexpected citizen who has arrived at our doors."

Masaru raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Who is it? Did they say what they needed?"

"It's a poor elderly woman, and I thought she might need shelter but she said she just wishes to speak to the young Lord of the castle." He looks to Katsuki.

"HA! Ya' see even the citizens know that I can be of more help then you! Leave it to me, don't even bother getting up!" Katsuki takes another large bite of meat.

"Tsh! Brat..." Despite her words Mitsuki smirks at her son, feeling a little proud that he is eager to be of some service to their people.

He then gets up from his seat and stomps his way out of the Hall. Eijirou shuts the door behind them as he follows.

Katsuki sees on the opposite end of the huge entryway the figure of a very small person. He has to squint his eyes to even see properly. As he gets closer to her he realizes she can't be more than 4 feet tall, she seems frail and her gray hair looked matted as it fell in her face, so long it almost reaches the floor. She had a round face, squinty eyes, and a slight hunch in her back, and uses a large wooden stick as a cane for support and wore a hooded cloak that was tattered and gray. She looks up to him and smiles, that's when he realizes she has almost no teeth.

Katsuki grimaces at the idea of getting too close to this old hag but he must prove to his parents that he has what it takes to rule this land better than them.

He stops once he is within speaking range and addresses her. "You've chosen a very inconvenient time to visit. Who are you woman and what do you need from me?"

Katsuki smirks as he feels confidence flow within him. This is what he wanted, to deal with their people and make his place as a ruler. He is the best after all, and his people must treat him that way.

The old lady then frowns at his discourteous words as she approaches him slowly. "I see... then I guess I am due to give you an apology. Please pardon me my young Lord, I am Chiyo and I live in a nearby village beyond the forest. My only wish is to talk with you..."

The way her attitude changed seemed more like a naggy old woman then someone who felt sorry. She obviously was not taking him seriously at all. This irritates and insults him, he sneers at her response.

"Talk?! …. Talk about what?" He looks at her confused and annoyed. What the hell could be so important to come all the way up to their castle in the middle of the night to talk about?

"Oh, nothing extraordinary. I simply just want to get to know you, so I can see what kind of man will one day rule this land... I need to know who you are as a person." She stops just four feet in front of him and looks up to him with a face that said she was judging him.

His patience running low and feeling highly insulted, because he was already perfect! And he would be damned if some dirty old hag was going to look down on him. Forgetting all about his reason for wanting to help the old lady in the first place he blows up.

"Look I have no FUCKing time to deal with you right now hag. Leave... Now! Get this old bitch out of here Eijirou!" Katsuki turns away to walk back to the Hall doors, hunched over and stomping, he fumes.

The redhead quickly makes his way over to the old lady and attempts to gently place his hand on her shoulder and try to escort her out, but his hand suddenly lost its grip as it slid off her shoulder like it was a slippery surface. He looks as his hand confused, nothing was on it. He looks at the old lady's face and shouts out in surprise.

Katsuki hearing Eijirou making an odd noise turns around quickly only to be just as shocked and very grossed out.

She was melting. Her face seemed to be dripping, her clothing and her hair was all becoming distorted and blending together. She was turning into a blob of some sort, and growing taller. Colors were changing and suddenly a new figure emerged from it.

Suddenly the blond Lord was facing a young blonde woman. She had grown to be not much shorter then him now. Her hair was long and wild but not matted like before and had bangs that framed her face. Her eyes were golden and almond shaped like a cat. She wore a black, corseted, tattered dress that was torn in the front so you could see her knees and dirty bare feet. She looked at him with a smile, one that frankly creeped him the fuck out.

More then a little shocked he begins to speak out. "A wi-"

"WITCH?! Hahaha! Yes! You would be correct, I am indeed a witch! My name is Himiko!" She began skip over to him, ignoring Eijirou who was still in shock.

"BITCH stay the FUCK away from me or I'll KILL you!

"Haha nice try but that won't be happening."

As if on cue a sudden pain hit him in the chest, a powerful ache of some sort. He clutched his chest in pain as it seemed to spread across him. A burning sensation also begins to drape all over his skin. "Ah! Fucking shit! Wha- what the fuck did you do to me BITCH!" He growls that last word out, but it sounds different, deeper, and more... animalistic.

Suddenly all his teeth began to ache, he felt them as they began to take a new shape. Even new ones seemed to be puncturing their way out of his gums, blood slowly began to spill from his lips.

The pain over whelmed him so much he dropped to his knees and folded over. He can hear a scream come from Eijirou as well but he can't seem to gather the strength to look up at the moment. As more new pains continue to fall upon him he hears the witch talk to him.

"HahaHA! You brought this upon yourself and everyone who lives in this castle, if only you weren't so prideful and spoke to me with a little more kindness you wouldn't have activated my curse." Katsuki's heart drops. Everyone was affected, were they all going to suffer the way he was right now.

As if on cue he hears a retched scream that could only belong to his mother, but it seemed unnecessarily louder than normal. "WHAT the HELL is going on?! W- where are we Masaru! Ah! Is that?! Katsuki is that you?! What happened to you?!"

"M'Lady I'm sorry to say Lord Katsuki has activated my curse." Himiko announces in a sing song voice. Katsuki then gathers the strength to look up. His eyes grow wide as he notices that their large family portrait painting was no longer on the wall but his parents as they appeared from the Hall are now stuck in the painting instead. He only gives Eijirou a sparing glance to see that his body has turned to a stone like texture. He looks back up to his mother and father as he tries to find his voice.

"MoTHeeer-" His mouth still full of blood and having a new set of teeth along with what seemed like an altered voice made it difficult to call out to her.

"Witch, what did you do to my baby?!" Furious Red eyes look down from the painting at Himiko.

Himiko shrugs comically at her. "Like I said, he was the one to activate it. I merely am a witch who tests those who are to come into power. It's nothing personal truly, your son is just far too proud and has no sense of respect for at least an elderly woman who would only wish to have a little talk."

"...Shit!" Mitsuki then realizes what had happened, and the situation they are in. "H- how do we break the curse?"

A large grin manically grows on Himiko's face. "The Lord Katsuki simply needs to find someone to fall in love with! …Oh! And who can come to love him return, with both his rotten personality and his new appearance."

Masaru seems to be deep in thought as Mitsuki curses under her breath.

The giant doors of the front entrance suddenly burst open with a huge gust of wind, and black smoke begins to flow into the room.

"Aww! Is it that time already?" Himiko wines.

A tall figure walks in from outside, a man wearing all black with a white shirt. He seems to be about twenty or so. He is skinny with wild black hair but his skin looks like it had been sewn back together with ugly purple patches of wrinkly skin. "Time to go."

"But Dabi I haven't finished yet!"

"To bad. It's your own fault for fooling around. You don't want to piss off Tomura."

"Darn it! Oh well!" She then runs over to Dabi and they both make a quick exit before Katsuki can fully recover from the pain that his body had undergone.

"Mitsuki..." Masaru looks to his wife with a serious expression on his face. "I'm afraid we are now stuck to watching on the sidelines as our son has to go through this alone."

"...He won't be alone... *cough*" Eijirou who is now struggling to get on his feet looks up to them. His new body heavy now, and still in pain, makes it somewhat difficult. "I'm still here, which means it's possible there are others too. M'lord, M'lady, I grew up here serving your family and I will do everything in my power to help."

"Thank you..." Masaru says with all hopefulness in his voice. Mitsuki tears up as he holds her close to him.

Katsuki unable to move but still aware can only look at his mother cry and his father worry. He fights the urge to cry as tears fill his eyes. "... fuck..."

 **Five years Later**

Riding into a small village was a carriage. It is filled to the brim with things, comically stacked up in the back like a tower. A large tapestry is draped over and tied to the sides of the carriage keep everything from falling out.

In the front of the carriage sat two people, one a woman in her mid-forties dressed in a green cloak for traveling. She is stout in stature, with dark green shoulder length hair. Her big green eyes taking in the new town. Next to her is a young man nineteen years old with the same big green eyes, and shorter curly dark green hair to match. His cloak is gray but he wears an unusual color of red for his shoes.

They ride through the town and the people are all looking at them with curiosity. A friendly woman approaches them. She is average in height, and has a nice body. Her hair is red, cut in a short bob, her bangs layered in the middle of her forehead.

"Hello, are you the new family that's moving into town?" Her voice was very soft and polite.

The woman on the cart responds happily. "Yes! Do you by chance know which way we should head to find the house? It's supposed to be on a hill with a small barn."

"Yes, if you take a left at the fork in the road up ahead it will bring you to the edge of town where you will see the hill easily. The road will lead you straight to it."

"Thanks so much!"

"No problem and welcome. May I get your names? I'm Shino."

"Oh of course! I'm Inko and this is my son Izuku." Inko places her hand on Izuku's shoulder and the other on his arm, obviously more than happy to show off her one and only child.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I run the local Inn and Bar in town with my friends." She points over her shoulder to a nice wooden building that is two stories tall. "If you want to try some of my cooking or have a drink please stop by. First visit is on the house."

"Oh, thank you so much! I would love that. Perhaps we will stop by after we get settled in."

The woman smiles and nods as they continue.

They follow the directions the woman gave them. "What a lovely village isn't it Izuku? Such nice people too!"

"Yea.., it really is beautiful. It's such a contrast in scenery compared to living in a busy port town on the coast... it's so... quiet." He says with awe and smiles. He was a little reluctant to move at first, liking the familiarity of their old town, but now that he is here he can feel a little excitement filling up inside of him. He was always reading books about magic and such and he hoped that maybe now he could discover new things and people and have a bit of an adventure of his own.

Back at the Inn a very short young man with short purplish black hair runs in and approaches a table next to the window. The table is occupied by another young man, he was tall with half white and half red hair. He was looking out the window and had food and a pint on the table in front of him.

"Hey Shoto! Did you see the new people in town! Ha! How did they fit so much stuff on that tiny cart?! They must be super weird!"

"...Yea I saw them."

"They said they were going to come here after they settled in! Should be amusing!" The little guy then runs off suddenly losing interest in the conversation he himself had started. He sees a cute girl had entered the bar, no doubt he was going to hit on her.

Shoto looks after him with a bored expression, hoping that Minoru is right. Being a traveler, he had stopped here about a year ago. After running out of funds recently and finding this village with a nice Inn he offered to help for free room and board and to earn a savings on the side until he can continue his journey. To say the least it has been boring. Being an traveler made life interesting and being stuck in one place was very uneventful.

He thinks back to the green haired guy on the cart, he seemed to be about his age. Maybe he is what was missing and could liven things up a little bit around here. A small smile grows on his face as Shoto finds himself now looking forward to him arriving at the bar in the evening.


	2. Beginnings

Moving is very hard. Izuku has come to realize this during this whole journey. Packing the wooden cart full to the brim with all their stuff was a challenge. He told his mother to leave it to him, and to just focus on packing things up because he didn't want her to get hurt in the process. He had the packing down to a damn near science, observing all the furniture, chests, barrels, and sacks full of their stuff he had it all planned carefully to make sure everything was stacked just right to fit and not fall. He added a large old tapestry and tied it down over their stuff for good measure. Their new home was a three-day journey by horse and pulling all this stuff they had also meant that they had to give the horse extra breaks to rest properly and not overwork him.

Unloading the cart was not as hard as packing it but it was still difficult and took a long while, but now just before the early evening started coming around they were finally finishing up. Izuku who did all the heavy lifting was spent. Their new home was a quaint single floor two-bedroom house with a modest living room and dining room area. It was a little dusty, the previous owners moved out a long time ago and were just able to sell the property recently. Inko was cleaning the area and putting things in their new rightful places as Izuku carried in all the stuff from the carriage.

Despite being an indoor book worm type of guy Izuku was relatively fit. He wasn't as built as the men who worked on the boats back in their old port town but he often had to stay in shape to be able to help his mother, since his father was absent. He also had the habit of wandering out of town to visit the nearby fields and forest to pick herbs he read about in his books. Herbs that were tied to witchcraft and alchemy. His many walks into these areas on a regular basis kept him in shape.

"Thank you so much for your hard work Izukuuu-" Inko smiles at him brightly.

"Of course, don't worry about it mom." Izuku plops down on the small couch in the living room and Inko joins him.

"Are you hungry? We can go and relax over at that nice lady's Inn, what was her name? Oh Shino!"

Izuku sighs as he sits back and drapes his arms on the back of the couch, allowing his head to fall back as he closes his eyes. "Ah yea that sounds nice. Let me just freshen up really quick, I got kind of sweaty and I'm really hot right now."

"Okay sweetie."

After a moment of resting he gets back up and exits through the front door. He approaches their water well that is just off to the side of the house facing away from town. He sees the rope is in good condition and the bucket sits on the ground next to the well. He picks it up, making sure the knot and the handle are still good before dropping the bucket into the water. He turns the crank and brings up a full bucket of water. He then lifts the whole bucket over his head and dumps the water over him. The cool water rushes over his head and soaks his curly dark green hair and his simple white poet shirt. He wipes his face, getting the water out of his eyes. His hand then runs up through his hair. "Ah that feels much better..."

He then takes a moment to look up above the trees. It was the start of the forest that spread out through most of the land north of the Village. The sky and clouds were turning to a purple-orange hue as the sun slowly made its way behind the trees. Taking in the moment he smiles, enjoying the beautiful scenery he will now be able to see every day. The forest was now his backyard, waiting to be explored. He is excited to see new things and meet new people. This is a new chapter in his life.

Now officially cooled off and refreshed, a sudden gust of wind causes him to shiver. He is reminded that it's time to get a quick change of clothes. He goes back inside and into his new bedroom to change.

His room is... not put together yet. He has his bed and a small shelf in the room with his chest full of clothing, and another chest he had full of supplies. All his books are stacked next to his shelf for him to organize on his shelf when he is ready. He quickly gets into his change of clothes.

Once they both are all set they decide to just walk to the Inn since it isn't too far from their home. Inko has her arm linked around Izuku's as they make their way through the street full of shops. The street is a wide old stone path. There are still a few people out but it seems most have already gone to their homes. Outside of a shop just across from the Inn they notice a man in all black locking up the front door. He is a tall man, who looks to be in his thirties with long shaggy black hair. He turns around and makes eye contact with Izuku. As they approach closer to the man Inko Introduces them. "Hello there, we're new in town. I'm Inko and this is my son Izuku."

"Hi." Izuku gives a shy smile to the stranger who looks way too tired for his own good.

"Greetings... I'm Shouta. Nice to meet you." He replies in a weary voice.

Izuku looks in the shop window and notices shelves are filled with books. "You own a book shop?"

"Yea, I collected stuff over the years and ended up with too many. So, I opened up a shop. You can just borrow books and bring them back. I got this place mostly as storage really... Not that many people actually come here anyway."

Inko brightens up at the discovery. "Oh well Izuku here will probably be a regular! He spent all his time at the book store at our last town. He loves learning new things! He's especially interested in the mysteries of the world. I think my Izuku will make a brilliant scholar one day." Stars seem to twinkle in her eyes as she boasts.

"M- mom! Shhh th-that's embarrassing." Izuku blushes at his mom telling this stranger about his hobbies, but he is interested in the man's collection and can't wait to visit.

Shouta looks at Izuku with interest. "Hmm...? Well I open up at noon and close at sundown. Stop by whenever you feel like it... I'll see you then." He then begins to walk away. "Have a good evening..."

"T-thank you." Izuku says as he and his mother proceed to walk towards the Inn. They walk up to the Inn's door and Izuku opens it up for Inko to enter first. The interior of the building is a deep brown wood. In the far back is a fire place and wooden tables and chairs filled the area. A long bar is seen to the right as they walk in. Inko spots a woman in her thirties tending the bar, she is average in height and has long blonde hair, Inko is quick to approach her as Izuku follows behind.

"Hello there! I'm Inko and this is my son Izuku, we were invited to have dinner here by Shino."

"Ah! Yes, she told me about you two! Nice to meet you I'm Ryuko! Please find a comfortable place to sit and I'll send out our server! Is there anything you two would like to drink?"

"Oh, just water for me. Thank you." Inko replies. Ryuko looks at Izuku expectantly. "What about you handsome? Anything I can get you?" She winks at him as an added effect.

Slightly self-conscious, his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. "Eh? Ah umm I guess j-just a pint of beer sh-should be good. Thank you, ma'am." He looks to the side, unable to make eye contact with the somewhat flirtatious bartender.

The blonde puts her hands on her hips in disapproval. "Excuse me? Ma'am?! Hey, I may be older but on the inside, I'm still twenty-one you hear me? None of this ma'am stuff, just call me Ryuko!"

"Ah yes! Pardon me, I'm sorry Ryuko!" Izuku quickly apologizes as the blond leans in close to playfully glare at him. Inko giggles as she pulls the flustered Izuku away to find a table. They both take a seat as they wait. Taking in their surroundings of the bar and the people who are there. Izuku can't help but notice a guy about his age with very unusual hair busing the dirty tables. His hair is half white on his right side and half red on the left, just long enough to reach his eyes. Once he looks up they make eye contact. That's when Izuku realizes this guy's eyes were heterochromatic, the right was a deep brown, but the left was a striking green. This guy's unique appearance was very prominent but, what is even more distinct about his appearance is the large burn that frames his green eye. Izuku feels the need to get to know this person. He looks as if he has many stories to tell.

The heterochromatic man smiles at him and suddenly Izuku is aware that he has been staring. He blushes deeply and quickly looks away, feeling embarrassed he hopes he didn't make a fool of himself. "Hello there!" The voice of another woman approaching causes Izuku to look up. She is another woman in her thirties of average height, she has long blue hair and large round eyes that are a bright yellow color. She is very bouncy in the way she moves, not really standing still at all, and seems very excitable. "My name is Tomoko! I'll be serving you tonight!"

"Oh, nice to meet you Tomoko, I'm Inko."

"...and I'm Izuku."

"Very nice to meet you both! Your dinner tonight is on the house! We can make anything you like. What are you craving? I have to say Shino makes a fantastic pork cutlet rice bowl!"

Just thinking about pork causes Izuku's stomach to growl. "I-I'll get that. Thank you."

"Can I get grilled fish with a salad?" Inko asks.

"Of course! Is there anything else I can get for the two of you?"

They both shake their heads and Tomoko dismisses herself with a skip and twirl to the kitchen to send in the order. Izuku notices that the guy with the red and white hair is no longer in the room. Izuku feels a little disappointed but then forgets it as Ryuko comes to their table with their drinks.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you" Both Izuku and Inko reply simultaneously.

Instead of returning to the bar Ryuko decides to stick around to talk. Being curious about new people. "So, it's rather unusual to see a mother and son living alone together. Where is your husband Inko?"

"Oh, his father Hisashi is a privateer and is working on a ship overseas." Inko replies with a smile but a worried look in her eyes.

"Oh wow! That's amazing! Working for the King directly is a wonderful opportunity. It must be a dangerous job though. You must worry about him a lot."

"Hisashi is a very hard worker and takes his work seriously. All I can do is pray for his safe return when they finish what they need to do." Ryuko smiles at Inko in understanding and respect. But she then is quick to turn her attention to Izuku who is sipping on his beer.

"So Izuku I assume your single then?" Izuku coughs suddenly at the very forward question. Blush returning to his face he tries to collect himself. "Staying with your mother at your age while your father is away. That's very good of you." Ryuko smiles at him flirtatiously, feeling Izuku is a man that is good natured and reliable. "You'd make a good husband someday, I'd better make my move."

"Haaah?! N-no I'm not tha- eh- uum..." Flustered, Izuku stutters over his words. He is not very used to getting attention like this, expectantly from an attractive older woman.

"Don't mind her, she is just single and getting old so she is on the hunt for a husband." Izuku looks up to see the same guy with the white and red hair approaching the table. "She did the same thing to me when I first came here a year ago." He smiles at Izuku in reassurance.

"Shoto! Be quiet, don't go getting in the way unless you're going to marry me instead!"

"Sorry Ryuko but I'm not interested in marriage at the moment, I am still young after all."

"I'm not old! I said I'm still twenty-one at heart!"

"Sorry... it was just a joke." He says with a straight face.

"Humph! No matter, I'm sure I'll me married soon enough! I just need a good man. I can't just marry any old bloke!" She stomps off back to tend to the bar. Shoto then looks to Izuku and softly smiles at him. He then looks to Inko. "Allow me to properly introduce myself, I'm Shoto, a traveler. I currently am residing here at the Inn and helping work here for room and to earn a little cash."

Izuku's eyes lighten up at the word traveler. Everyone who had come into his old town who had been travelers were really scary looking hugely built men from the boats. They were very unapproachable, but here this guy looked really nice and he was approaching him first! What an awesome opportunity to learn from someone who has probably been to so many different places and seen many things! "I-It's really nice to meet you Shoto! I'm Izuku and this is my mother Inko."

"Nice to meet you Shoto. You look like you might be about Izuku's age. How old are you?" Inko asks happily.

"I'm twenty years old. What about you Izuku?"

"I'm nineteen."

"Ah yes I thought so, well perhaps you two can get to be good friends. It's good to have someone to spend some time with your own age. Is there anyone else in town the same age as you two?"

"Ah yes there are a few. I'll introduce you sometime."

"T-thank you Shoto."

"Would you like to meet up sometime tomorrow?"

"Ah! Y- yes that would be great! I plan on visiting 's book shop tomorrow. So, after that would be fine."

"Okay, just stop here when you finish up then. I'll be here."

"I look forward to it!"

Shoto then excused himself and continued to help with the Inn. Izuku watches him as he went into a doorway that he assumed led into the kitchen area. He went back to drinking his beer and found himself looking forward to tomorrow more and more.

 **Three Months later**

It's been undoubtedly some very eventful three months. The day after his arrival Izuku was thrilled to dive into all the books Mr. Shouta had in his shop, he officially goes there every day to peruse the many interesting titles in the impressive collection. The older man has become a bit of a mentor to Izuku, they would have discussions and such when Izuku comes back with a book to return.

Izuku has also met a few people through Shoto that were their age, one being Minoru. He is a very short guy who seemed to be a bit of a lecher. He hung around Shoto a lot since the much taller and attractive male drew in women. There is also Shoji, he came off as mysterious and wore a mask over his face, only revealing his eyes. He is very tall and stocky. Izuku found him a little intimidating at first glance but found out after talking to him that he is a nice guy. There was one female their age named Kyoka, she had short dark violet hair and deep black eyes. She is very pragmatic but still seems to have a sense of humor as she teases Minoru after properly giving him a smack on the head when the smaller guy is being a little more than flirtatious. And lastly there was Yuga, a very flamboyant guy who seems to want to be in the center of attention all the time... but usually fails. He was a very observant guy who incidentally ended up putting an odd and very nerve-racking comment in Izuku's head just last week. "Shoto seems to have a thing for you. Is it... LOVE?"

Just thinking back to it stresses Izuku out. He had rejected the prospect all together. Trying his best to erase the idea from the others head as well.

 _There is no way Shoto looks at me that way. I'm a guy and there are so many attractive women who are pining after him, hoping he will decide to settle down here for good. Why would he want to be with a plain guy like me?_ Izuku blushes at the thought. Shoto was a very attractive guy. He can admit that. He was tall and lean but still well defined. Izuku still remembers the day Shoto and Shoji decided to spar. The two had decided to go shirtless as they threw punches and kicks. Shoji was large and strong and Shoto was fast and precise. They asked if he wanted to join but Izuku had declined. He didn't have any confidence when it came to combat, but once they started Izuku was truly inspired. Shoto ended up winning the fight but they had fantastic sportsmanship and Shoto had ended up giving Shoji some pointers. It was obvious that Shoto had some training in the past and lots of experience. Unfortunately, he didn't like talking about his past though. Izuku had wanted to get to know more about Shoto's past and the many places he had been.

Izuku ended his thoughts just as he came up to the door of Shouta's book shop. He turns the door knob but the door is locked. Confused, Izuku looks into the window but doesn't see the older man at his usual spot at the large desk in the front of the store.

"Hmm... that's odd. It's already well past noon. Did he sleep in?" Izuku looks down to his book he is holding. It's one he had borrowed from the shop and wanted to discuss. It was titled 'Understanding Magic and Curses'. It was an amazing book that Shouta had filed in the way back of the shop in a half hazard stack of books, collecting dust. The older man had become interested in Izuku's thoughts of these topics and would humor him with his knowledge on the topic. Izuku was very pleased to have someone to talk to about these things.

Most people are starting to not believe in magic anymore. It's been over a hundred years since the last witch report, and it was questionable on if it was even valid. It is now being taught that the witches in the past were all just women who were good at medicines and poisons. Izuku didn't doubt that idea at all, the people in the past were very paranoid, but with good reason. Izuku thinks there were real witches and even wizards and necromancers. There were many different types of people who had an efficiency with magic and the sort, it fascinated Izuku.

Not knowing when the scruffy older man was going to show up and not wanting to go to the man's house and disturb him, Izuku decided to take a seat at a nearby bench to wait a while. He takes a seat and opens up to the page he wanted to speak to the older man about. Reading it over he found it very interesting the differences between different types of spells. To name a few, jinxes are spells that bring bad luck but are usually relatively harmless in the long run. Hexes can also bring bad luck but also can bring harm or pain to the person who it is put on. And lastly Curses, they are usually long-term spells that were cast specifically to bring harm or even to punish someone for up to an eternity.

Curses seem so extreme and dangerous, the thought of one being cast on someone was terrifying. This book seemed to cover all the basics about understanding curses and how to prevent them. It was very interesting the different herbs and even stones used for protection. Izuku had only gotten halfway through the book and he picked up where he had left off. After what felt like a half an hour, someone joined him on the bench. Izuku looks up to see those mismatched eyes he has grown rather used to seeing.

"Hello Izuku, what are you reading there?" Shoto had sat relatively close to Izuku, and had placed his arm on the back of the bench behind him. Izuku tensed up at the close proximity but smiles none the less. He has after all gotten used to Shoto and how he often would get close like this.

"Ah Shoto, just something I borrowed from Mr. Shouta." Izuku says with a smile.

"I thought it was strange seeing you sitting out here reading, is he not in the shop?"

"No, I'm guessing he may have slept in. I'm just waiting for him."

"Ah I see. That explains it."

"Were you working at the Inn?"

"Yea, I had a long morning at the Inn they woke me up early to get started so I'm kind of tired myself..." Shoto smiles at him warmly as he continues in a soft yet husky voice." ...but I'm okay now that I'm here with you..."

"Eh...?" Izuku's face flushes as he processes what the taller man had said. _What was that? He's never said anything like this to me before. He is extra friendly but-_ Suddenly Izuku remembers Yuga's words from the previous week. Those of LOVE. He then tries to play it off, knowing that he is probably misinterpreting it because of what the flamboyant blond had said.

"Ah haha! Oh, Shoto your so bad at jokes that it's actually kind of funny eh heh..." Sweat drips down his temple as he realizes how unnatural that sounded.

"I'm not joking, Izuku. I love spending time with you. I wish we could be like this every day. Seeing your face makes me feel something I've never felt before. It's... enticing." Izuku face goes completely flush and he feels goosebumps go up his back as that last word was whispered into his ear. He can't tell if he likes it or if it just makes him feel very uncomfortable. He then shuts his book and jumps up from the bench.

"Ah! I just realized I forgot to help my mom with something back at home! See you later Shoto!" He runs off in a hurry back towards his home. Shoto's eyes open wide in surprise at the reaction, but that expression then changes for just a moment to that of an uncharacteristically wide predatory smile as he watches his Izuku run off. Once the shorter man was out of view he sighs and scratches the back of his head. "I guess that was too forward huh?" He then gets up and heads back over to the Inn.

Izuku was in shock, this was a side of Shoto he never expected to see. He was what Izuku thought was a very close friend. Someone who was just kind of clingy at times. But to think he was looking at him in a romantic sense. It was freaking him out. Was it good? Was it bad? He had to sort out his thoughts. He opens his front door and walks in muttering.

"Izuku? Is that you? You're back already?" Inko looks from the kitchen door way to see Izuku walking from the front door and going across the living room towards his bedroom, still muttering and not hearing her question at all. Inko looks at him curiously. "Hmm... I wonder what's the matter..."

He goes into his room and closes his door. He now has a desk and chair in his room that he had built for himself sitting next to his now filled bookshelf. He takes a seat on his small bed and continues to ponder.

 _Shoto is a great guy. He's smart, nice, charming... handsome._ Izuku blushes at his thoughts. _D-do I like Shoto in... that way?_ He puts his head in his hands while resting his arms atop his knees. "sigh... I don't know. I've never been in... l-lo. Ah geez. I'm so pathetic. I'm turning twenty next month and I-"

Despite being a person who craves for adventure, he is afraid of change and is a very cautious person. This whole situation with Shoto was almost terrifying as well as exciting for him. Romance was something he always wanted one day, but he was too nervous to ever approach anyone.

There was a girl is his home town who he liked very much. Her name was Ochako. She was very cute and very kind. She was the first to approach him and they became very good friends. She ended up marrying Tenya just a year ago. He was another one of their very close friends. It was an arranged marriage but they were not against it. Tenya comes from a very wealthy family and Ochako wanted to do something that would help her family who worked very hard every day. She wanted them to retire and relax. Since they already cared for each other as good friends for a long time they knew they could grow to love each other easily. Izuku was a little bothered by it, but if his friends were happy then so was he. His feelings for Ochako was only at its beginning stages, so it wasn't really a heart-breaking experience. She was just the first girl he really got to know well.

Shoto was still a new person in his life. He seriously doubted he could develop romantic feelings for a man he only just started getting close to if he had known Ochako for most of his teen years and hadn't developed an overwhelming love. But he has heard his mother time and time again tell him how she had fallen madly in love with his father. She had developed great feeling for him almost immediately when he came into port off of a boat and bumped into her. She had fallen and he helped her back up. His mother claims it was love at first sight and they married within the year. She still loves him just as fiercely today. Izuku doesn't know if he can believe such an embarrassing and cheesy story but he knows that marrying within a year and the strength of their love is real. Izuku doesn't know what he feels for Shoto, but it doesn't seem like the love at first sight situation his mother had. He sighs again knowing that he still doesn't have an answer.

There was a knock on his bedroom door. "Izuku honey, is everything okay? I wasn't expecting you home so early."

"Ah yea! I'm okay mom, Mr. Shouta wasn't at the shop so I just came back."

Inko cracked the door open and peeked her head inside to take a look at him. "By the way Izuku, I'm going to head back to Edgewater Port tomorrow. I want to buy a few pieces of furniture and kitchen tools from Nemuri's shop. I also need to visit the postal man, just to be sure we didn't get anything sent to us from your father."

Izuku perks up and looks at her. "Do you want me to come with you? Won't you need help loading furniture?"

"No need to worry, she has Sekijirou there to help with that. I need you here to take care of the animals and the garden while I'm gone okay?" Since they moved they had bought chickens, pigs, and two cows. Inko has also made a decent sized garden with fruits and vegetables for them to eat and sometimes sell. They both work to take care of the animals and gardening but it was a relatively easy job. Also, he doesn't feel comfortable with his mother doing a long-distance ride by herself. "Are you sure? If it's only for a week we could hire someone in town to take care of stuff till we get back."

Inko hearing the hint of worry in her son's voice gives him a smile. "It's okay Izuku, you stay here. No need to worry anyone else over this, and don't you worry about me. I'll be safe Izuku, I doubt there are any dangerous people on the road. We live in a safe country, and just in case I still have your fathers gun and a hidden blade. I won't be completely defenseless."

Izuku looks at her as if to pout but then gives out a sigh. "Ah okay mom... just please be careful."

"Of course. Isn't it me who is supposed to be the worry wart?" Inko giggles at the idea of them switching roles.

"Haha yea, you're right! Sorry about that." Izuku smiles up at her.

"Will you help me prepare the ingredients for dinner? I'm making a soup."

"Okay mom." He then gets up and proceeds to walk out the door to join her in the next room.

Izuku follows her into the kitchen. Inko starts pulling out all the vegetables they need from the pantry as she instructs Izuku on what to start on first. Once Izuku finished with his help she excused him and he went to feed the animals at the barn. The rest of the evening was uneventful and normal. They ate dinner and Izuku read s few more chapters in the book in bed until he fell asleep.

The next morning Inko has everything she needs all packed up for her long ride and is ready to go. Izuku is helping her load her things and saddle up the horses. "Thank you Izuku, always such a good helper. What would I do without you?" She hugs him and leans up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Please be safe mom. Don't worry I'll take care of things here. How long will you take?"

"I only need a full day while I'm there just to make sure I'm fully rested before I come back. With three days to travel there and three back I should be home no later than Wednesday next week."

Izuku exhales slowly. "Okay, I'll be waiting."

Inko smiles up at him, feeling so proud. Her Izuku is a man now, he is still her cute boy but he has grown to be quite handsome and reliable. She knows he doesn't know this but someday someone will truly fall in love with him and he will have to live his own life. She both dreaded and looked forward to when that day would come. "I love you my Izuku, thank you."

"I love you to mom." Izuku helps her up onto the carriage and hands her the reigns.

"I'll see you next week. Bye Izuku."

"Bye mom." With a flick of the reigns, she started riding down the road. Izuku watched her until she was riding back through the road that led into town and then towards Edgewater Port. Izuku let out a sigh. He didn't realize he had this over protectiveness over his mother. It was always the other way around. When he was a kid he had a way earlier deadline to get back home from playing then all the other kids. And she would always check his body to make sure he had no cuts or bruises. If he did then she would always disinfect them with alcohol, even just a little scratch. To think he picked up on her protective behavior. This was the first time he will actually be spending an extended time period alone without her around. It just felt so different. Maybe this was just his nervous behavior stemming from a new situation. _I'll just have to do my best and trust that she will be okay. Come Wednesday next week she will be back and I can grow more comfortable with her making trips by herself._

Izuku then turns around and heads over to the barn to feed care for the animals. Once finished he collected water for the garden and started weeding and picking the ripe food. He was able to keep himself busy till lunch time and decided to make himself a sandwich. While eating he wonders if Mr. Shouta has returned to the book store on time today.

He walks into town and heads to the book shop. Trying the door again it is locked, and there are no signs on life in the building. _Did he never come to the shop yesterday?_

Izuku decides this time that he will visit the older man's home. He walks to the southern end of town where he can find the man's home and knocks on the door. Izuku gets no response and tries for the door knob. "Mr. Shouta? I'm coming in!"

Izuku peeks his head through the doorway to see a quiet home. The shades are drawn, leaving the whole living room dark. He opens the door wider to get some more light coming in from the door. The man was nowhere to be seen. Izuku walks in to investigate, not in the kitchen, not in the living dining room area, not in the bed room. The man was clearly not home. There didn't appear to be any out of the ordinary commotion either. Everything was in place and in order. _Strange that he would just leave his home suddenly and not lock the door._

Still not seeing anything out of ordinary Izuku decides to leave. He shuts the door behind him and ponders. _I suppose he should be back, maybe he just left in a hurry and forgot to lock up._ Izuku then started to realize he didn't know much about the man. Did he have family that he possibly would need to urgently go see? Or was it something else? These are things that Izuku had decided he would have to ask the man once he returned.

Izuku then leaves the home and begins walking through town, muttering under his breath as he tries to speculate why else the man could have left his home on such a short notice.

"Hey! Izuku!"

Izuku looks up in surprise. Headed in his direction was Minoru. The dwarf like man seemed excited and in great need to discuss something.

"Hey Minoru, wh- what's going on?"

"Tonight, there is going to be a HUGE party at the Inn! Today is Ryuko's birthday! Are you going to come? There will be free drinks and I know all the beautiful ladies in town will be there! It's a fantastic opportunity for us single guys out here who need alcohol to help the ladies loosen up a little!" Minoru is practically bouncing up and down at the idea.

Izuku lets out a small chuckle, not surprised by the purple haired guys reaction to such news. "Ah well I know I wouldn't want to disappoint Ryuko by not going so I'll be there."

"Great! I'll see you then!" Just as quickly as he came the little guy was off again. Izuku then went home, figuring people will probably start arriving before sundown. Since daylight was long right now during the summer.

He needed to dress nice for a party. He doesn't have anything super fancy but he knew he had a nice coat he could wear. Once he got home he dug out the old coat. It had belonged to his father, it was a reddish-brown coat that went down to the thigh. He pulled out a black waist coat and a fresh white poet shirt. Then he grabbed a pair of gray breeches. Usually Izuku wore trousers since they were more loose fitting but he wanted to have a fresh look tonight since it was a celebratory get together. He dresses and puts on some socks with garters and his signature red leather shoes. Now that he's all dressed he feels a little nervous. Last time he dressed up nice was at Tenya and Ochako's wedding.

He takes a deep breath and checks on the animals and gives them their second feeding for the day. Once everyone was accounted for he locks everything up and heads out to the Inn.

The sun is setting, the sky getting its first hints of pinks and orange. It will probably be dark in a couple hours.

Izuku can hear noise and laughter coming out of the Inn. No doubt people have already started partying. He walks in to be greeted by the view of a filled room. Izuku doesn't remember seeing the Inn this busy ever. All the tables were taken and the bar was full.

Today instead of Ryuko tending the bar it was Yawara, Shino's husband. The huge man was apparently quick at the job as well, able to make multiple drinks at a time and not spill a drop.

Tomoko was busy as well, carrying multiple plates in each hand as she served food out to the tables. Izuku noticed Shoto was also serving tables.

Ryuko was conversing with several women near the bar but then she notices Izuku enter and seems to excuse herself as she approaches him. "Izuku! Good Minoru got the message to you. I'm glad you could make it!"

"It's no problem at all, Happy Birthday Ryuko! I'm sorry my mother couldn't make it."

"Yea, Shino saw her leave town this morning so I know already. Don't worry about it! You look so cute by the way! Get yourself something to drink and enjoy yourself!" He blushes at the complement as she gives him a hug and goes back to the group of women she was with before.

Izuku goes to the bar and does as she suggested and orders a drink. Once he is served he decides to go to a quiet corner and just watch everyone enjoy themselves.

He sees Minoru is already here, he seems to be trying to get Kyoka and a few other women to drink more. Probably trying to get them drunk. He also sees some of the older muscular working men teasing Shoji and trying to get him to arm wrestle them. Yuga was dressed in very expensive clothing that looked brilliant, he was trying to be noticed but people were too preoccupied partying with friends.

"Are you having a fun time?" Shoto is now approaching him with a small smile. He is carrying a bowl in his hand and hands it to him. "It's your favorite pork cutlet. It's on me."

Izuku blushes as he accepts the food. "T-thank you..." He places his drink on the table next to him as takes the fork in his hand.

Shoto leans back against the back wall behind them, next to Izuku in silence. Izuku starts eating the dish, enjoying the flavor.

"Sorry, If I startled you yesterday. It was unbecoming of me to say such a thing to another man. I hope you will forgive me..."

Izuku looks at Shoto with wide eyes. He was halfway through chewing a mouthful of food as he freezes and looks at the taller man in shock. He then finishes the food in his mouth before responding. A blush dusting on his cheeks as he talks. "Sh-Shoto you don't need to apologize. It was just a b-big surprise is all..."

Shoto looks at him with a smile. "I'm glad. You are very kind, but I won't take back what I said. I want to be with you. I also want to make a proposal to you. If I may..."

He turns to Izuku, looking down at him with a shine in his mismatched eyes, waiting for Izuku's approval. Izuku hesitantly nods, his heart is hammering nervously as the other man places his hand on his cheek. "I'm close to saving up enough money to start my journey again, I want you to come with me. I understand this is very sudden, please think about it. I can wait for your answer until you're ready. I just know that I want you by my side and that I can bring you to so many different places. I know you want to go on an adventure, and to me it feels like fate has brought you to this town and to me so that we could go on a journey together."

Shoto strokes his thumb on Izuku's cheek once before bringing it back down. He then turns and steps away. He looks over his shoulder, only his white side and his dark eye looking at him. "I will be awaiting your reply... Izuku."

Izuku just watches as Shoto heads back through the crowd towards the door to the kitchen. His heart still thumping loudly. _Oh my GOD! What? I? He? He wants me to journey with him?! Together? As more than just companions? It certainly seems like he implied that. What do I do? Do I go with him? I still don't know how I feel about him. Would he still want me to go even if I may not like him the way he likes me? Yea, he would, he's smart enough to know I'm unsure already, but he still suggested it anyways. But is he expecting to win me over with a journey like that? That's also possible, he knows about my desires to travel the world and learn new things during said journey. If he wanted me to fall for him I suppose that would be a great start. But to me does that matter? Whether or not if he is using it as a tool to make me fall for him or not this is a great opportunity. Having a guide who is knowledgeable and understands what it takes to constantly travel will make things much faster than starting by myself. Also-_

"What are you muttering about monsieur Izuku?" Izuku jumps a little as he looks up to see Yuga smiling at him a twinkle shining off his brilliant purple silk ruffled blouse. The blond had a hand on his hip as he awaited Izuku to reply.

"Ah Y-Yuga, it's nothing really. I'm sorry, I didn't realize." Izuku then places his fork back into the bowl as he picks up his pint from the table and takes a swig.

"Does it have anything to do with how Shoto was hitting on you just now?"

Izuku then is spitting beer out of his mouth and starts coughing from choking from the shock. "I -cough- I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Oh, you're not fooling me my friend. When it comes to LOVE I have a natural sense of finding it. He loves you for sure. There is no denying it."

Izuku looks at him in defeat. There is no fooling this guy. "Just forget about it. I- I just need time to think."

"Ah because it's one sided, isn't it? Well take your time, he looks like he will wait an eternity for you."

Izuku blushes, he didn't think Shoto was that far into his feelings. _Could Yuga just be over glamorizing it? No, he was right about there being any feelings at all a week ago. It's possible he can foresee what I can't._

"Good luck with that!" Yuga feeling accomplished in showing off at least his observation skills leaves Izuku back to his thoughts and rejoins the party.

Izuku spent the rest of the night having a few more drinks and eventually humoring a very drunk Ryuko with Shouji. She continued to ask both of them to marry her seeming to want to be with the younger men rather than the men her own age.

Once the party started to die down Izuku excused himself and went home. Being physically and mentally tired from the events of the night he passes out quickly on the bed with his clothing still on.

 **Next Wednesday Evening**

"Where is she?" Izuku is pacing in front of his house back and forth. He is waiting for his mother to arrive. _She said Wednesday at the latest. She should be back by now._

He sighs as he decides that he should head in for the night. If she is not back in the morning he will go looking for her.

Unfortunately, he is so worried that he was lying in bed awake all night. Once he saw the sun rising through his window he decided he had enough of waiting. It's time to get his mother back. He quickly gets dressed for travel and heads to the kitchen to pack some food for himself. He goes to feed the animals then locks up the house. He heads into town and quickly heads to the Inn. At this time Shino is always out front. She spots Izuku heading over with a serious and tired expression on his face.

"Izuku, good morning... Are you okay? What's the matter?"

"Shino, I have a favor to ask. I'm going to look for my mother, she should have arrived by yesterday but she still hasn't arrived. I want to go look for her. May I borrow a horse? And if you or one of the others feed the animals while I'm away I would greatly appreciate it."

"Oh my, of course! Please come this way." She brings him to the side of the building where their horses were stabled. He assisted her in saddling up her horse.

"Hopefully I won't be gone for an extended period of time. Thank you so much for your help."

"Don't you worry. I'll be sure to go, or send someone, up to take care of your animals until you and your mother return."

Izuku mounts the horse and nods. "Until then!" He then rides off quickly. Going into a full gallop down the road leading out into the forest and ultimately to Edgewater Port.

He rode for what seemed like an eternity, looking for signs of her coming down this way. _No sign is a good sign though. That could mean that she's just late. Maybe she decided to stay another day._

After a while he needs to take a break. He could tell the horse was getting tired. How many hours had he rode before noticing? He gets off the horse and pours some water from his canteen into a small bowl he had in his satchel for the horse to drink. He then feeds it a carrot and allows it to rest for another fifteen minutes before riding again.

He rides on with no signs of his mother. Eventually the sun starts to set. He sets up a camp on the side of the road and ties the horse to a tree. It was another sleepless night. At first sunlight, after feeding the horse he sets off again. _Could she have decided to stay a whole extra two days in Edgewater Port? She knew I would worry if she was late..._

Izuku can't help but get a bad feeling in his gut. As more time goes by without finding her on the road heading his way safely traveling on the cart, his heart skips a beat. There is an obstruction far off in the distance. It looks like a cart in the road. He gets excited, but that excitement is short lived as he gets closer. It turns to dread. It's his mother's cart, but she is nowhere to be seen. He hops off the horse and approaches the cart to investigate.

The cart was still full of supplies that she bought from Edgewater Port, only the horses were missing. Also, the cart had a broken axle. It obviously was not an attack from thieves, this at least was a relief. What this looked like was a genuine malfunction of the cart itself. It was an old wagon after all, and its last load was a huge one. So perhaps another load afterwards had pushed it to its limits.

Then his mother would have needed to continue on and look for help. She must have let one of the horses go and rode the other. She probably wasn't wanting them to be tied to the cart alone and helpless to possible carnivores that lived in the forest. Best to just have one horse and once she can find help then try to call the other later. He looks under the carriage's front seat and sees his father's gun is no longer there. She brought it with her as protection. _Good._

Izuku then looks around for any sign of which direction she may have gone next. That's when he notices the horses hoof prints. They're not fresh, but since there is not much travel on this road it has not been destroyed completely. It's likely no one has come down this road since his mother was here last. One set of prints heads into the forest, the other oddly heads back the way she came from. He tries to think which one seems more logical for his mother to take? _Did she think it was best to go back to Edgewater? But we're only about two days distance from there, she was already almost two thirds of the way home. But then if she went into the forest then that would make even less sense._

Izuku gets back on his horse and chooses to follow the tracks headed to Edgewater Port. After about an hour or so Izuku sees the tracks turn into the forest. He didn't notice this before when they were moving but there was a road here. It was worn down and doesn't look like it's been traveled down in years aside from his mother. _She must have noticed this path before and decided to go down it to look for help. Smart. It's a lot closer then home. Even if there were no people living out here she could possibly find useful resources that could help her situation, or if nothing else shelter till I came to find her._

Izuku thinking of that last bit, is expecting to find his mother down this road in possibly an old hut of some sort. He gets surprised as the road eventually begins to expand into a wide stone road. His mother's tracks vanish as the road changes to stone, but he has no doubts that she would have kept going down this road.

After about thirty more minutes of riding at a trot down this road Izuku stops. His eyes grow wide as he can't believe what is before him. What he sees is a large castle in an open plain, surrounded by the forest, a large lake is sitting behind it. The exterior of the castle looks abandoned, vines had grown up over the large gate entrance and up the walls of the castle itself. Despite its condition, it was beautiful. Izuku was amazed and wanted to investigate immediately. Knowing that his mother had seen this same sight only about a day or two ago he starts into a full gallop to the castle entrance. The urge to find his mother and now the overwhelming feeling for adventure flowing through him.


	3. The Beast

Izuku rode into the large front gate, entering the outer walls of the castle. He notices the place was most definitely deserted. The bailey is empty, there are no horses in the stables and no livestock in the pens. All the doors are shut, Izuku assumes these doors lead to storage and barracks. There are no signs of a battle. Was this castle simply abandoned? There are no corpses or external damage to the castle except for minor erosion from weather and nature. Why is there no one living here?

Approaching the main entrance of the Keep, Izuku's heart skips as he sees his mother's horse tied to a post nearby. _She's here... I knew it!_ Dismounting and tying his horse to the post next to his mothers, he feeds them both an apple from his sac and approaches the large set of doors.

Upon further examination, he finds the large wooden door to be in good condition, considering the general disrepair of everything else. He places his hands on one of the doors and pushes. Despite how heavy they are he knows his mom could manage pushing them open. Quietly slipping in he studies his surroundings and he is awestruck. The main entrance is remarkably huge, with tall beautiful windows that allow rays of light to flow in. Pillars were lined straight down to the opposite end of the room in two rows on either side of him. Never in his life has he been in a castle before. He thought Tenya lived in a big home, but this was a whole other level.

He walks down the entry way in search of his mother, but he isn't sure where to start. His feet naturally lead him to the second set of big doors that lead to the main Hall, ignorant of the two sets of eyes watching him from the portrait upon the wall.

He walks into the Hall and see's the large table set up with many chairs. The center chair facing the rest of the Hall larger than the rest and obviously belonging to the Lord of the castle.

Izuku notices that at the end of the table there is a chair slightly pushed out with an empty plate, glass, and utensils in front of it. He walks up and sees that they are dirty and recently used. Did his mother find food and eat? Looking around he calls out to his mother not knowing where to go next.

"Mom?! Are you here?! Where are you?"

After a pause of silence his hears something he never expected to hear… A loud thundering roar. Did he just awaken a beast? His heart skips in terror. He's never heard such a sound before. What sort of creature did it belong to? And will he be able to find his mother and avoid it all together? He quickly decides to go to the door off to the right, the opposite direction from the roar, and search high and low for his mother. Hopefully she is unharmed.

As soon as he opens the door he bumps into a figure in front of him and falls flat on his butt.

"Ouch!"

"Ah... another visitor. A guy this time!"

Izuku looks up to see the figure of a guy his age, but he is no man at all. He was what looked like a statue. Made of stone and had sharp edges. Izuku's eyes grow wide, he scoots back into the door in shock.

"AH! Wh- what? wh- who are you?"

"Ah sorry let me introduce myself I'm Eijirou! What's your name?" He asks nicely as he reaches out a stony hand in offering to help him up on his feet.

Izuku hesitates but the guys nice personality makes him feel he can trust him. He reaches out and grabs the large hard hand. "I'm Izuku... thank you."

Eijirou pulls him up. "No problem, now what brings you to this castle? We don't get visitors often."

"My mother... she got lost. I tracked her down and this is where I believe she ended up. Is there a woman in her forties here? She's a few inches shorter than me, with hair past her shoulders the same color as mine."

Another roar is heard and Eijirou looks up, a serious expression on his face. He looks down at the shorter man. "She's here but I don't know if I can help you. My lord sounds very unhappy right now. I think he locked her up... Sorry."

Izuku looks at him with a blank expression on his face. _So, mom is here, but this nice guy can't help me and DID HE JUST SAY LORD? Oh, geez so that creature is the lord of the castle? And he locked my mom up?_ Once he has processed the information he is determined to do what he needs to do. He looks up to the stone man with determination in his eyes. "I don't need your help then. I don't want to get you in trouble. Just tell me where your dungeons are. I'll find her myself."

Eijirou is taken aback for a moment. He was not expecting such a small guy in a scary situation to be so- "So MANLY! I like you! Okay I'll tell you where she is!"

The door slams open, Eijirou looks up to see his lord, obviously pissed standing in the door way.

"Where are they?! Who the FUCK is here now?!"

"Ah! Lord Katsuki! You just missed him! He ran off, it's the son of that lady who showed up here. But hey you got to cool it man. Because th-"

"Ugh will you shut the hell up for once!" He then leaves to find his new prey thorough the door on the opposite side of the room with a mad dash.

"Eh?! But wait! But the Lady Mitsuki said! ...Shit." Eijirou chases after them as well, seeing his plan to stop Katsuki from failing.

Izuku is now running down a flight of stairs that Eijirou said led to the dungeons. He was even kind enough to give him the key. He runs to the bottom and is greeted with a hallway filled with caged cells.

"Mom! Are you here?"

"Izuku?! Izuku is that you?!" Inko cried out from the opposite end of the hallway. He had run up to her cell gate. Tears flowing from her eyes.

"Don't worry mom! I'm here, I'm going to get you out of here." He looks at her and smiles as he puts the key in the lock. He successfully unlocks the gate and Inko dives into his arms.

"Izukuuuuu!"  
"It's okay mom. Let's get out of here."

As if on cue they hear someone running down the stairs. Izuku stops breathing as he realizes who is approaching. Growls can be heard, then the figure stands hunched over at the foot of the stairs.

The figure straightens up, showing his full height as he slowly steps forward. "You're not going anywhere. You, puny little shit." The rough voice deep and rumbling shakes Izuku to the core. The figure then steps into some lighting and Izuku gasps as he sees the man before him.

This man is not fully a man. The only human skin that remained on him is in center of his face, front of his neck and center of his chest from what Izuku could see. Everything else is covered in black scales, like a lizard. The sneer on his face revealed sharp teeth with frightening elongated canines. He has wheat blond spiky hair and three dark gray horns on each side of his upper temple that had a thin, deep orange red swirl going around them. Each horn had different lengths, and they were pointing behind him. His hands and feet were large. His hands were reptilian with large terrifying claws, but his feet look like a lion, his exposed feet and calves were covered with tan fur. All he wore was slacks and a large white shirt. They were torn up pretty bad too.

As this monstrous Lord approached them he brings his arms up and opens his palms showing off his claws. Izuku terrified that they were going to get sliced up moves his mother behind him as he faces the terror before him. "Please... Just don't hurt my mother!"

"I don't listen nor do I take to kindly to trespassers PEASENT!"

At this time is when Eijirou finally makes his way down the stairs to see the situation at hand. "My Lord!"

Katsuki ignores the stone man as he takes another step towards Izuku.

"Please! I'll do anything! Just let my mom go!"

Inko pulls on Izuku's arm in protest. "Izuku no! I will not leave you behind!"

"I don't think so…" Katsuki replies as he steps within arm's reach of Izuku. Eijirou comes up behind him and pulls his shoulder to turn him to look at him. "My Lord, don't hurt Izuku... I'm sorry but Lady Mitsuki told me to stop you."

"What?! Why the hell should I care what that hag thinks?"

Eijirou looks from Izuku to Katsuki and decides to lean in to whisper something else to Katsuki without Izuku hearing.

Izuku looks at them confused but relieved that their seemingly inevitable doom had been postponed. His curiosity grows as he watches the expression of the beastly Lord change from his previous scary and intimidating to a shocked and baffled expression. "HAH?! Do you really think that I would go for that?! You got to be fucking kidding me, fuck that shit!"

"It's not a matter of if you will or will not my Lord. You have to or else... well I think we won't be getting any other opportunities. We can't afford for you to be picky. You have to try."

Katsuki looks at him with a serious expression on his face, and a permanent scowl. He seems to be seriously considering whatever it was Eijirou had relayed to him, albeit reluctantly. He then looks at Izuku, Izuku flinches under the powerful stare. He feels his heart beat quicken in pace, but oddly he realizes he's not as scared as he was a moment ago. Perhaps it's because of the intervention, or perhaps it was the expression the other wore. Yes, he looked intimidating still but there was a bit of sadness in there too.

"Tch... guess I have no choice then. Today is your lucky day, I'm willing to take you up on your offer Deku."

"De-... Deku?" Izuku looks up at him confused. "My name is Izuku."

"Whatever! You will stay, I'll let your mother go. Deal?"

"Deal." He replies instantly.

"Izuku no!" Inko pulls on his sleeve and Izuku looks back to her.

"Mom, don't worry I'll be fine. I can take care of myself. I just need you to be safe."

"But I can't leave not knowing if you're safe!"

Eijirou steps forward. "Don't worry mam' He won't be stuck in the dungeon. The Lady of the castle has ordered that our new guest will be well taken care of."

"That's not enough. I have to know myself, there is no way I can trust my son to those in this castle."

"Once a month."

Everyone looks at Katsuki confused. "You can visit once a month. That's it. If you don't accept that then you will never see him again. I don't need your damn permission."

Izuku looks to his mother and forces a smile. "See, it's okay. You can visit me in a month and you will see I'm fine. Okay?"

Inko looks up at Izuku with a worried look on her face. Tears threaten to break free again as she studies his expression, seeing if he truly feels comfortable with the situation. What she sees is confidence deep in his eyes. She closes her eyes as she lets out a deep sigh. "Okay." she says in a shaky voice.

"Say your goodbyes now. I'll be taking you to your room immediately after. Eijirou you help her out of here."

Izuku turns to his mother and gives her a hug. She hugs him back, squeezing him tightly. "Please be safe, okay Izuku? I love you."

"I love you too mom. Don't worry. Next time we meet I will be fine. Okay?"

She leans back to look at him, tears streaming down her round cheeks. She nods "Okay." She then kisses him on the cheek.

Katsuki gives Eijirou a look, and the stone man approaches them.

"I'm sorry, but it's time."

Inko sniffles as she reluctantly pulls away from Izuku. Eijirou lightly places a hand on her back as he gently escorts her towards the stairs. As they walk past Katsuki she looks back at Izuku. "I'll see you in exactly one month! I promise! I'll be here!"

"I'll be waiting mom..." He smiles sadly as he watches her go up the stairs.

Alone together, a strange tension fills the room. Izuku doesn't know how to describe it. He looks into the Lords deep crimson eyes even though he's still scared of him. "Thank you."

Those eyes grow wide in surprise. Not expecting to be shown gratitude. He expected to be resented for the whole situation, or at the very least feared for his appearance. "Tch. Fool, follow me. I'll bring you to your room."

He turns around to head up the stairs and Izuku follows him. While looking up at the tall Lord, he notices he has a tail like a horse, and that his hair has also grown from the nape of his neck like a mane of a horse as well. It disappears under the collar of his shirt. Izuku is very interested in knowing what he and Eijirou were. _Are they human? Or creatures that have been forgotten and have hidden here. I want to learn more about them. That stone guy, Eijirou he said there was a Lady living here too. Is it the Lords wife? Or perhaps his mother or sister? How many people are living here right now? It seemed so quiet I didn't think there were any. Maybe just a few? Or are they hiding?_

"Oi. Shut the hell up already. Your muttering a goddamn storm and its annoying as fuck."

"Eep! Ah- s- sorry."

Katsuki opens the door from the stairway into a hall of some sort. It seems they went up a floor above ground level. They walk through and there are only two sets of doors in the large hallway, one closer to them and one straight down the hall. The blond leads him to the door at the end of the hall. "You will stay here, wait till I send someone to get you."

"Ah um... oka-" Izuku's stomach suddenly growls very loudly. His eyes grow wide and his face glows a deep red from embarrassment.

"Dinner will be shortly. Just wait here, Deku."

"My name is Izuku."

"Ugh just get inside already and stay put okay?!"

Izuku sighs looking up into those red eyes. "Okay."

He then opens the door and walks in. As the door shuts behind him, he looks around. It's a beautiful room, Izuku is actually stunned. _This is MY room?!_

Against the wall to his right lay a large king-sized bed with satin red bedding and pillows, with a canopy. There is a large dresser on the opposite wall and a large desk adjacent to that. Next to the door beside him was a large bookshelf that takes up the whole wall. And straight across from him, past the bed, are large glass doors that open up to a balcony, large drapes pushed aside. Izuku never even dreamed to be able to step into such a luxurious room, let alone sleep in one. It was like a dream. It's hard to believe only ten minutes ago he was afraid for his life.

He decides to walk up to the bookshelf first. It's filled with books of many learning subjects for a noble. It was filled with things from learning the hierarchy and understanding everyone's duties to how to cultivate the land and build new towns and cities. He picks up a few books and browses through them. Reading a few pages in each one. There was so much information here. Very detailed and lots of complicated explanations on how to essentially rule. This is when Izuku realizes where he is. This was the castle of the Lord who worked directly under their king and rules the land he lives in. "What in the world happened here?" He continues to browse through the books for a while longer until he decides to venture more through the room.

He turns around and walks over to the desk. It's very dusty and there is paperwork laying on it. He picks up a piece of paper and blows the dust off to read it. Half-finished homework, on the topic of handling taxes. Collecting from citizens and paying to the King. He puts the paper back down and looks though a few more sheets that seem to be on similar topics. He then turns to the dresser, opens a drawer and sees clothing inside fit for a royal. They look too small to fit the Lord he saw moments ago. "He hasn't been in here in years... but this used to be his room."

"Those clothes might fit you."

Izuku jumps at the unexpected voice who spoke out to him. Not thinking anyone was in the room because he didn't hear the door open up again.

His eyes grow wide as he sees who is standing in front of the door. It's a woman, or at least he thinks it's a woman. She looks like the figure of a woman with a pink slimy texture to her body. She is a little transparent and her eyes are black with golden irises, her hair is also slimy but still seems to have its own shape, a hair length and curl similar to Izuku's.

She's naked, and not knowing how to respond, he slightly blushes as he scratches the back of his head nervously. "Wh- What?"

"I'm here to get you ready for dinner but you can't go wearing traveling clothing, now can you? He can't wear this stuff anymore. He grew out of them. But you might be the right size. You're kind of small compared to the guys living here, how old are you?"

"Eh?! Umm I'm nineteen, I turn twenty next month..."

"Ah! Then we're all the same age!"

"Huh?"

"I turn twenty next month too! Oh, I'm Mina by the way!"

"I'm Izuku. What did you mean by all?"

"Oh well Eijirou is still nineteen, Tsu is Twenty, and our Lord Katsuki is twenty as well! We don't get many visitors. It's nice to have another person our age here." She walks towards him and looks into the dresser.

"Oh, you should wear that one! Try it on!" She says while pointing at an outfit.

"Ah um okay. Are you sure it's fine?"

"He put you in this room to use it. He intended for you to wear his old clothes. He does everything with a reason. Don't worry, it's better than letting them collect dust forever!"

He picks up the clothing and blushes. This stuff is very fancy. "I don't think I'll look good in this... It doesn't suit me. I'm just a plain looking guy."

"What are you saying? You just have a baby face is all. You're actually pretty cute, if you clean yourself up a bit with a nice outfit you'd look great! Don't worry about it!"

Izuku reluctantly walks behind the private folding screen next to the dresser. He hangs the outfit and takes off his satchel, placing it on the ground then he begins to undress. "Can you tell me... you're all, human, right?"

Mina looks at the screen sadly, pondering how to respond. "...Yes. At least we used to be."

"What happened?"

"I... I can't tell you much. I don't know the whole story since I was in a different part of the castle, but we were cursed by a witch of some sort.

Izuku's heart skips a beat as he hears what he was only thinking in the back of his head. So much has been happening it was hard to process it all. But he's not surprised, he has already known, believed, that curses were real. To think that he would face it in reality was what excited him... but- "I'm sorry... It must be very difficult. I- I wish I could help."

"You're a very nice guy huh? Haha thank you... I appreciate it."

There is a mirror behind the screen. As he puts on the clothing he feels nervous. _This outfit probably costs more than our house..._ He sighs as he looks at himself. "This really doesn't suit me at all."

"Come on! Let me see already!"

Izuku steps out from behind the screen and Mina squeals. "Ah! You look great! It fits you perfectly too!"

Izuku is wearing red breeches with knee high socks, a poet shirt with lace on the sleeves, a long off-white vest with beautiful golden embroidery with a navy coat which has the same golden embroidery to match. The lace from his poet shirt peeked out from the sleeves of the coat nicely. He put his red shoes back on after changing. "Are you sure? I really feel like this is too much for me." He asks nervously. A small blush on his face.

"That's only because it's your first time wearing clothing like this. You'll get used to it. We better get you down for dinner now. You're our guest so I hope you enjoy everything we have to offer." She smiles at him as she turns around. She then suddenly becomes a puddle and slips under the door.

Izuku looks at the display with wide eyes. _I guess that's how she came in the room without me noticing._ Following her, he opens the door and sees her figure in front of the door. She turns to him.

"I have to be careful not to touch anything. My slime body burns most things to ash. I have to avoid carpeting too. So troublesome really."

"I can only imagine." He feels sad for her. To not be able to touch anything. It could also be very lonely. He follows her down the hall. She is walking on the side off of the carpet. Izuku opens the door and they make their way down the stairs and exit one level down. They make their way to the Hall. They come to the door where Izuku met Eijirou and Mina turns to him.

"I hope you enjoy the meal."

"Thank you." Izuku then hesitantly takes the handle in his hand and enters the Hall. As the door shuts behind him he looks to the one figure sitting at the table. Those deep red eyes meet emerald fiercely. He looks up and down Izuku, observing the outfit he is wearing. Izuku's body becomes tense under the attention he's getting and he holds his breath.

"Good. Now hurry up and sit down Deku. You took your sweet ass time getting down here."

"Ah my apologies!" Izuku quickly approaches the table. Katsuki is sitting in the Lords chair at the center of the table. Izuku chooses to sit in the spot he had observed earlier. The spot he thought his mother may have eaten at.

Katsuki notices how Izuku decides to sit as far as possible from him but chooses not to comment. "Tch"

The back door opens and a server girl enters the room. Pushing a cart with food. The best way to describe her was that she was a frog, but still a woman. Her face is frog like with big eyes and a wide mouth. Her skin is also that of a frog, green and black. She has frog hands and approaches the table on frog feet to place their entrees before them. She places the plate with the pile of steak meat next to Katsuki, knowing he is going to plate that immediately.

She brings the cart next to Izuku. "Greetings, I'm Tsuyu, you can just call me Tsu. What is your meat of choice?" Her voice was croaky.

"Ah Nice to meet you Tsu. I'm Izuku. Um... I enjoy pork a lot." He blushes nervously. He just can't get used to today.

"Coming right up." She places the plate full of pork next to him. Other side dishes littered the table, salad, potatoes, rice, vegetables. Izuku truly didn't think just the two of them could eat all of this.

"Will anyone else be joining us?" Izuku asks.

Another server, who is older but also a frog like Tsu enters the room and brings them both a pint of beer and some wine. Perhaps it was Tsu's mom.

Katsuki looks at Izuku. "No. Everyone else eats separately in the commons."

"Oh, uh okay." _Why so much food then...?_ He smiles and thanks the other server and Tsu as they leave the room.

It isn't long before Izuku gets the answer to his question. Katsuki had filled his plate probably four times now. And doesn't seem to be slowing down. Izuku has already eaten a second plate of food and is stuffed. He leaned back in his seat to digest and watched the monster before him in amazement.

He wonders how big this guy's stomach is. Most of the food has been eaten. Izuku looks up to his wine glass. He drank all his beer and had been slowly sipping on his wine. Katsuki had three pints of beer.

Izuku picking up his wine glass to take another sip pondered on if his body absorbs more than the normal human does in this form. He wants to know, he wants to know everything that this curse has done. Maybe he can help, with what he has learned already. He looks at the blond's beast like features. _Those teeth, the scales, the horns, his ears look like their pointed too. And his mane. How far down does it go? I think his tail was not as blond as the hair on his head. Ahh I want to observe his body. Can I properly identify his body parts? Is he a chimera of some sort?_

"What the hell are you muttering about Deku?"

"Eh?" Izuku looks up at the blond blankly. He had gotten pretty comfortable after eating in the blond's presence in silence that he forgot himself. Lost in his thoughts. "Ah! I'm sorry. I... I was just thinking. Perhaps I can help with the curse you all have. I actually am a bit of an enthusiast of magic and such and have studied about curses very recently actually. I know a few things I can try... if that's okay with you. It's only in theory though. I've never tried these things before. I don't know if it will work."

Katsuki looks at him with his usual scowl before turning away to continue eating. "Do what you want."

Izuku suddenly gets giddy with excitement. This guy is scary yes but he's not really a monster, he is human. And now that he told him he might be of some use to him things might get easier.

What Izuku hasn't realized yet is that Katsuki already has a use for him. A use he himself is not really happy with, but there is more at stake here then just him. His mother, father, and every one of his loyal servants and workers living in the castle, and the ones who vanished without a trace too. He knows that he has a shit personality but that doesn't mean he doesn't care for those who are loyal to him and his family. If he has to somehow make this work with this shit head Deku then that's what he will do. That's what a truly indisputably great ruler would do for his people. He would do all that he can in his power to make things right. All he can do now is hope this is not just a huge waste of time and energy. He has to make this work. Somehow…

Katsuki grumbles as he swallows his last bite of food and chugs the last of his beer. He then sits back and ponders to himself. He looks over to the curly-headed fuck drinking the last of his wine, a blush dusting his cheeks. _A lightweight eh? La-ame._ He chuckles to himself.

Izuku hears him and looks up to see him staring. Izuku realizes that he is becoming mesmerized by those crimson orbs. And also, _did he just laugh?_ Izuku feels a little baffled and doesn't know what to say. Luckily the blond breaks the silence for him.

"Well I guess I have to introduce you to the person who chose your fate today."

"Huh? Oh yea, Eijirou did say something like that didn't he. Who is she?"

Katsuki gets up out of his seat. "My mother. You'll be meeting my father as well."

Izuku excitedly gets out of his seat, a little wobbly from having more than one drink. He then follows the blond to the door leading back to the entryway. Once they enter he looks at the exit and it reminds Izuku how he is stuck here, and that his mother will have to live alone now. He wonders briefly how long this Lord will force him to stay here. Or perhaps it's the Lady that wants him to stay. Maybe she will be the one to make that decision.

Katsuki leads him up one of the stair cases that leads to the upper level of the room just above the main hall's entryway. The stairs were a pair on either side of the door, they curved outwards and back inward to a short hall that has large doors on each end. Katsuki stops in the center of the hall facing the wall, and looks up at the painting. Izuku looks up too and sees a man and a woman in the painting. The truly shocking thing is, they are moving! The woman has blond hair like her son, fluffy and down to her shoulders. The man short brown hair and a scruffy beard and glasses. It is obvious that the beast next to him took after his mother, the features of a man that still showed on his face revealed that. He had her hair and eyes, though perhaps the rest of him resembled his father more.

"Hey hag, I brought him."

Izuku flinches. "Ah! H- hi! Th- thank you so much for your help! I- I'm Izuku!"

Her voice replies back fairly loud with an echo "Aw! What a sweetie! I'm so happy to have you staying here with us! I know my boy Katsuki can be a hand full but I hope you can make nice with him okay?"

"huh?"

"Tch! Shut your mouth woman. Don't say anything unnecessary."

"Don't give me any shit brat! I'll hear none of that from you!"

Izuku is a bit surprised. His mother was probably the origin of the bad language, but she was significantly nicer to visitors then her son.

"Don't worry my Lady, I will do as you ask. He has already been very courteous at dinner. And it's the least I can do, for him letting my mother go. I am deeply grateful." Izuku bows his head down to show respect.

"Masaru is this an angel? Why can't my son be like this?!"

"HAH?!" Katsuki retorts.

The man in the painting laughs as he looks down from above. Izuku looks up at him. "You are very understanding and kindhearted, I can see this. I hope you can enjoy yourself here, and perhaps even one day call this your home."

Izuku's eyes grow wide in surprise. _Is he implying that they want me to stay here forever?_

"Oh, I'm sure you will! I will be sure of that." Mitsuki looks down at her son expectantly.

"Tch." He turns his back to her and walks away going to the door on the far left. He leaves without saying another word.

"Sigh. That boy will be the death of me. Izuku, thank you for agreeing to stay. I am truly baffled that you're not angry about this. Please help my son. Ever since this whole thing started, well I'm worried for him." Mitsuki explains with a pained look on her face.

Izuku's heart drops. These people are asking for his help. These poor people cursed with something he doesn't even know about. He knows now that he will do what he must to help them. "No harm fell upon me or my mother. She was uninjured, and I noticed on arrival that she was also fed, so I have no reason to resent any of you." Izuku smiles at her kindly.

"Dear god you really are an angel!" Mitsuki exclaims.

"It's getting late and you must be tired Izuku. Go ahead to your room and rest. You are welcome to come talk to us whenever you want. Help yourself to the castle and the grounds." Masaru says with a smile.

"Okay it was very nice to meet you both!"

"You can get to your room through the door to your right. Just take the hall straight down and it will lead you back to the hall that goes to your room." Mitsuki explains.

Izuku nods in confirmation and politely excuses himself.

He follows the directions down the hall as he ponders to himself the day's events. _So, they want me to stay for their son and help out the situation here. He's scary but not completely unapproachable. I dunno how much he actually wants me here but he seems to have agreed to it, for one reason or another. Tomorrow I guess I will ask about the curse more. I need to know more to be able to help them. I have Mr. Shouta's book in my satchel still. I will do a quick review tonight on curses and how to fight them. I recall there being herbal remedies and even rituals to help remove negative magic and energy from a person._

He enters the Hallway leading to his room. Turning to walk down the hall he sees Eijirou at his door and approaches him.

"Hey!" The stone man greets.

"Hi Eijirou. Thank you for your help today. I'm grateful."

"No thank you! I'm honestly surprised how quick you were to agree to stay."

"If it meant my mother can go home safely, there was no question."

"I went with your mother back to her carriage. I replaced the axle and set both of the horses on there for her. I figured the least I could do is help her out and give you an update. Heh."

Izuku smiles up at the taller stone man with appreciation. "Thank you so much!" A tear sneaks its way out.

Eijirou seeing the tears grow and begin to stream down gets anxious. "Ay man, you, all right? Eh- uhm…"

"I'm going to break the curse..."

"Huh?!"

"I'm going to find a way to break the curse on this castle. You're all good people, I can see this. No one deserves to live like this." Izuku smiles at him with a look of determination in his eyes as he harshly blinks the tears away.

Eijirou smiles back at him. "You're awesome man. If you can pull that off that would be amazing! Thank you."

"I'm just doing what I think is right. I don't know how yet, but I'm going to find out. Thank you for updating me about my mother. Have a good night."

"Yea, you too."

Izuku then enters his room. Eijirou watches him as the door shuts behind. _Damn I wish I didn't have to withhold information from him. He's such a nice guy!_ With a sigh to himself he walks down the hall to leave.

Izuku goes over to the dresser to find something to wear to bed. He quickly changes into a large white sleep shirt that goes down to his thighs and white brief shorts. He grabs his bag and brings it over to the bed with him. Now that he is standing next to the bed he realizes its really high up compared to what he is used to. The bed is just below his hips. He places the bag on the bed and hops up onto it himself.

"I dunno if I can get used to this..." He mutters to himself grabbing his bag and getting comfortable on the bed, propping the pillows up behind him. The sun has gone down, and it seems someone has lit candles for him on the two small tables on both sides of the bed. Perhaps it was Eijirou. Izuku is grateful, he wants to be able to read some tonight before he gets tired. Which was already creeping up on him. Said sleepiness probably has some contribution to his waterworks in the hall with Eijirou too. Thinking back, it was kind of embarrassing, a grown man nearly twenty to start crying like that.

Izuku sighs to himself as he pulls out his book. He opens it up to the middle, and tries to find the spot where the ways to fight curses was. He reads through the herbal remedies and thinks of which herbs he may be able to find nearby. Then reads through how to go about performing a ritual. It all seemed pretty complex, and he wonders if he can pull it off. He keeps reading, determined to learn more about it until his eyes begin to grow heavy. When he can stay awake no longer he closes the book and places it on the side table. He blows out both candles and settles himself in bed, dozing off rather quickly as the excitement of the day has worn him out significantly, as well as the lack of sleep he got before arriving.

When he falls asleep he remembers those deep red eyes, that look so full of emotion. Ranging from anger to pride and sadness. He feels the need to help overflow him as his consciousness slips away.


	4. Jumping to Conclusions

Slowly opening his eyes, he squints from the intrusive sunlight shining in from the large balcony. Katsuki growls deeply from where he lays in the massive bed he slept in. Currently on his stomach he rolls over to his back and groggily sits up. Feathers that have been freed from the damaged bedding his claws previously ripped up float around him from being disturbed. Over the years under this curse sleeping on a bed had proven to be difficult. Sleeping on his stomach had become a habit to prevent his horns from getting stuck in pillows, but his claws on his hands and feet still messed up his blankets and mattress.

He also has made a habit of sleeping in the nude. This body has proven itself frustrating when it comes to getting dressed, he just gave up wearing anything to bed since it was going to get torn up anyway. His pointed ears pick up on the footsteps coming down the hallway towards his room. He groans, knowing that is was time to get out of bed.

A knock comes on the door. "You may enter." He growls out sleepily.

Tsuyu enters through the door. "Good morning my Lord. I'm here to help you get dressed for the day."

This was a normal routine. The large claws Katsuki had grown had made getting dressed by himself extra difficult. Tsuyu being one of the few people who has a cursed body that can do mundane tasks without too much difficulty was the natural person to help him in the mornings. At first Katsuki, being the proud person, he is, refused any assistance despite the struggle. Through trial and error, he eventually gave in, now he has no embarrassment what so ever. Tsuyu still has some difficulty, since her hands are more like that of a frog than a human, with flat finger pads that like to stick to surfaces, but they get the job done. She doesn't even bat an eyelash when she sees the naked Katsuki get out of bed. If one were to take in the sight they will notice that his strong feline legs faded back into a man's halfway up his thigh. His almost white horse like tail sways behind a toned pale ass. Tsuyu prudently heads over to his dresser and finds a simple poet shirt and some trousers, knowing that Katsuki now goes commando to get this dressing process done and over with.

Katsuki approaches her feeling no shame in being naked in the presence of a girl his own age. He has long known that she is just doing her duty as a servant of his family. "My Lord, would you like me to brush your mane out?" His mane starts at his nape and goes all the way down to his tail.

"Don't bother."

She nods and then helps him put on his pants, she manages to not get his claws to tear through this time, she then carefully brings the shirt over his head. One of his horns punctures the back of his shirt and it tears a little. Tsuyu then carefully maneuvers the shirt to not tear it any further. Seldom a day goes by when his clothing gets put on unscathed. Even then his jagged, scaly, reptilian skin almost always damages his sleeves throughout the day.

"Do you need anything else?" Tsuyu asks.

"Where is Eijirou?"

"He should be out catching meat for the meals we will be having for the day."

"And Deku?"

Tsuyu pauses for a moment. Confused until she seems to understand who he is talking about. "...Ah Izuku should be getting out of bed as well. Mina offered to serve him again today. Would you like me to go check on him?"

"No, it's fine." Katsuki then leaves the room, Tsuyu following him out from behind. Tsuyu heads down the spiral staircase on this side of the castle that will eventually lead her back down to the kitchen to help her mother prep for the breakfast meal.

Katsuki takes the staircase up another floor. This leads to a long hallway with many doors on both sides. He takes the first door on his left, and walks into a large library. All the walls are filled to the brim with books of many types and there were even more shelves that lead along the large room in numerous aisles. There was even a staircase that lead to an open upper level that lead along the high walls in a large circle around the room. In the middle of the room was a large desk filled with books and papers. He went over and sat down, looking over all his studies. Breaking curses, rituals, potions, spells, even suggestions on simple things such as a change in diet and meditation to expel evils from one's self. Last night when Deku made the suggestion to try to break the spell, he played like he would need the help. But everyone in this castle knew, it was useless. They had already tried everything, they would either have to find a professional, who seems to either be in hiding or just don't exist in this day and age, or do as the witch said and fall in love and be loved in return.

He grumbles to himself feeling frustrated. In the past five years hardly, anybody has shown up to the castle. You would think there would be someone to come. But in times of peace there was hardly a need to come here. All of the servants who handled things going in and out of the castle were present on the night of the curse. Those who show up usually got their first look at someone in the castle and made a run for it before learning the truth. Those who did learn the truth were unable to help. Usually they were too old and already had a family. Not a suitable person to try to get to fall in love with a prince who is currently a beast of intimidating appearance. Deku was the first who seemed to fall in the right category. Same age, single, no children, the guy even seemed to calm down and treat him like a person once he realized he wasn't going to kill him. Which he never was going to, he just wanted to scare the asshole a little bit for running away from him to begin with. Not to mention he was already pissed because the second the little shits mother had gotten a look at him she pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him! He had every right to be pissed off!

He slams a fist on top of the desk, a small rolled up scroll he had previously had sent to him rolled across the desk till is was stopped by a book in its path. He pouts while looking at it, the seal of the king, which looks kind of like a pair of eyes and a furrowed brow staring at him. He had stayed in contact with the king since this all began, communicating by raven. He had contacted the king in hopes of some assistance. Katsuki had written the king explaining the curse, of course leaving out how rude he was to the disguised witch and just saying how she had unjustly deemed him unworthy at the time. He had hopes the king would understand and being a good ruler would find him a possible bride to send and attempt to break the curse with. Katsuki unrolls the scroll and looks it over, frowning as he has already read this and is still unhappy with the response he had gotten after asking for the king to send him possible brides.

 _Young Lord Katsuki Bakugou,_

 _I understand how frustrating your situation must be, and I truly am sorry for your predicament. I believe this is something you must do on your own, this was a sign for you to grow as a person and as a ruler. All become more strong and wise with trials to overcome. I mustn't interfere or else it will all be for naught. You are still young and have a long life ahead of you. Your opportunity is just around the corner. Do not give up hope, I see potential in you and I know you can do this. I hope the best for you and please tell your mother and father that I send my regards. Please contact me if you ever need anything, I may not help you on this matter, but I am still your king and will support you in any way I can otherwise._

 _Sincerely, Toshinori Yagi, All Might, The Paladin of Peace, King of the Rising Sun_

Bakugou scoffs at all the impressive titles following his kings name. The Paladin of Peace was a man he had grown up hearing stories about. He was a powerful and impressive battle commander in the war. The commander was put on the throne when the late Queen was on her death bed. She had been sick and had no living offspring, and her husband the late King had died the previous year. She named Toshinori King before she died. Now Toshinori has been King for over a decade and the world has never known such peace. It's like the people knowing who their ruler is had all become more docile and content. Who can blame them though, he was an incredible man who fought off evil almost single-handedly and is loved by the people. An ideal image of a good King. He is perfect.

Katsuki drops the letter on the desk, he then leans back and looks up at the ceiling. A beautiful painting of angels dancing in the clouds was crafted on it for him to look at. The Paladin of Peace was the only person Katsuki has ever admired and wants to become even better than him. When he read books about the battles he was in and how he won every single one of them, Katsuki found him to be truly remarkable. To have this man he wants to overcome tell him how imperfect he is and that "…this _was a sign for you to grow as a person,_ " is fucking bull shit. He probably met the king in person like once in his life, and he was just a little boy about 4 years old at the time. Seeing him up close was an awe-inspiring experience. The man was huge, and muscular with a powerful air about him, and the largest shit eating grin Katsuki has ever encountered in his life.

It's very unfortunate that the man seems to believe that this is a perfect learning experience for him and won't do anything to help the situation. The King had told him in a letter that previously found itself shredded on the floor that the only aid the king would give was to take up on the duties that his parents were normally in charge of in their region and that not to worry himself over political work until he breaks his curse on his own. Katsuki thinks of big wide emerald eyes.

 _I suppose I have to find something likable about the little shit... If this is going to work I have to actually learn to l... love him or whatever._ He lightly blushes at the thought with a huge embarrassed scowl on his face. Love was defiantly something he was not familiar with, aside from loving his mom and dad. He cared deeply for all the people in the castle almost as if they are family as well, even though he would never admit it out loud. He would take a blade for each and every one of them. But this new guy who just showed up out of nowhere, he didn't know him. But he seemed very earnest and open-hearted. He remembers how the smaller man looked in his old clothes. Originally thinking how ridiculous it must be a guy fitting into clothing he wore when he was fourteen years old. But when he entered the Hall last night Katsuki was amazed how good the guy looked. Not being in those dingy traveling clothes made Izuku look like someone he could actually take seriously.

He tried to recollect the others features, the most prominent were his eyes and freckled cheeks. The guy was definitely small and had soft features. _I guess he's okay looking, for a guy._ Getting fed up with just trying to remember how the other looked, Katsuki gets up and heads back down to the Hall.

It's not unheard of, a Lord or Lady taking a partner of the same sex. It was relatively common. Most preferred to have opposite sex marriages because it just simplified finding a successor. There are plenty of rulers who never marry and just pass succession off to usually a trusted knight, much like their King. Rulers have even chosen to not give rulership to their children if they found them to be insufficient for the job. Some rulers in same sex marriages even chose a surrogate to bear them a child. This method though was very old and uncommon, since people found it cruel taking a child away from its birth mother. For ladies of same sex marriages, they used to choose their strongest knight or most intelligent scholar to plant his seed in the womb. This is also a very old method, but some think this still happens from time to time.

Katsuki didn't ever really think about who he wanted to marry or how he wanted to go about choosing a successor. He has yet to be able to start ruling in the first place. But now he is forced to think of a far-off future that he never really wanted to think about until much later in his life. Once this started he had plenty of time to think things through. He does feel he would prefer a woman. They tended to be softer and more natural at nurturing children. Yes, he realized he wanted children too over the years. Up to this point he has had difficulty finding any woman. He very well can't go gallivanting into any old town or city in his form, nor can any of his people with all of them taking on a frightening form. There is no need for towns people freaking out and spreading rumors of demons or monsters roaming about and scaring people across the land. So, finding a preferable spouse has been difficult. Most people who had come to the castle in the last six years were travelers, grungy old men who Katsuki had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. These men would flee the moment they laid eyes on him or a person who resided in the castle, screaming monster as they exited the scene.

Katsuki found it laughable at first, but then he came to realize if these full-grown men were terrified of them then there was probably no hope for anyone to really stay long enough for him to break this curse with, let alone a possible beautiful young woman. The short green haired man was actually quite brave to stand up to him when protecting his mother. Katsuki was too angry to realize it at first but thinking back on it he now realizes he can give the guy some credit. He may look scrawny but he's more of a man then any of the old men who ever stepped foot here and faced him.

He opens the door leading into the Hall. The table is empty. Figuring he is just first to arrive he takes his seat and waits. After about five to ten minutes Tsuyu comes out with the cart full of food. Breakfast foods all lining up in front of him. He begins eating, but after eating two full plates of food he starts wondering where his guest was, and what was taking him so long to arrive. Tsuyu comes back into the room to bring him a refill of water and wine and take away his empty plates.

"Tsu... Where the hell is he?" He growls out, trying hard not to get worked up.

"Hmm I'm not sure, I saw Mina not long ago. I will go ask her."

"Make it quick..." He grumbles as he takes his fork and manages to skewer a fried egg and eats it in one bite, followed up by a huge bite of toast.

Tsuyu hurries off out the double doors to the entryway and finds Mina talking to Eijirou by the castle entrance. She was talking excitedly and had a slimy thin arm wrapped around his rocky bicep. He is laughing and responding to her with equal enthusiasm. Tsuyu imagines that if they had their human skin their cheeks would probably show flush, it was obvious how much they liked each other. They are probably the only ones who don't know they like each other.

"Oh! Hey Tsu!"

"Hi Mina, where is Izuku? Lord Katsuki is getting irritable at his absence."

"Oh no... really?! Izuku really wanted to go to the forest and collect herbs. He said something about fighting the curse off with them in some rituals. I told him that was fine, since we don't want him to figure out that, you know, we know how to break it already."

"That's fine Mina, thank you." Tsuyu turns around to reenter the Hall.

Eijirou calls out to her. "Wait Tsu! I'll come with you. Just in case." Tsuyu nods in response.

"I'll come too, since it's my fault." Mina adds.

They all enter the Hall and Katsuki had gone through another two plates. He looks at them expectantly. "WELL..."

Mina volunteers herself before Tsuyu can. "He went to the forest..."

"WHAT?!" They all flinch. "Why the hell did you allow him to leave?! Are you fucking stupid?!" He stands up quickly. "He probably left for good! Running back to mommy and he'll never step foot near here again! When did he leave?"

"I- It was only about half an hour ago..."

"Goddamnit!" He storms in their direction to exit the hall.

"Wait!" Eijirou grabs Katsuki's arm to still him. "I'll go look for him. You don't need to trouble yourself over this." He tries.

Katsuki pulls his arm away from him. "Fuck that! It's obvious I have to do everything myself." He then exits, the double doors slamming behind him. Eijirou sighs dejectedly.

"Don't worry."

Mina and Eijirou look at Tsuyu surprised. "Why?" Mina asks.

Tsuyu pokes a flat fingertip on her chin, her tongue sticking out slightly as she looks at them. "Because this is for the best. We need them to bring themselves together, naturally. We can't interfere."

"Hmm that makes sense." Eijirou responds. "I also don't think Izuku would just leave us. I know he only just got here yesterday but, that guy has a manly soul! I can tell."

Mina instantly lights up as a smile grows across her face. "Omigosh so they are going to come together all romantic like?! AH! I wanna see! I'm gonna follow them!"

"Mina I dunno if that is a good idea..." Eijirou mumbled.

"Okay I'm in." Tsuyu says flatly.

"YAY! Tsu you're the best let's go!"

The girls exit as Eijirou follows them out, smiling despite his hesitance on stalking their beast of a lord.

* * *

Izuku was rather amazed at how much he was able to find in just a couple hours of wandering in the surrounding area. This wasn't his first time searching for wild herbs but the sheer number he was able to recognize so quickly amazed him. Before leaving the castle, he had taken his books out of his satchel. Now it was filled with herbs. All different types, they all had multiple uses, and now he was just digging up the last one he wanted to find. He carefully places the last of it into his satchel with everything else. He looks inside and smiles with satisfaction. Feeling motivated and in good spirits he stands up from his kneeling position from the ground.

Before he even gets into a fully upright position his body jumps with fright as a sudden booming roar emanates throughout the forest. He instinctively clutched his chest as he felt his heart skip a beat. Looking towards the direction of the castle with wide eyes, he lets out a shuddered breath as he finally stands up fully. "I am never going to get used to him doing that..." He shuts his eyes and tries to calm himself. _This is not the roar of a monster, it's a man, just like me._ And not just any man, but a royal who is technically the current Lord of this region, the Lord of Nitreath, the Northwestern region of the continent, Levitra. Thinking about it now, Izuku realizes the magnitude of his situation. Not only does he see the importance in helping him, but also the weight that may be on the lord's mind as well. It's a position with lots a responsibility. Knowing that the Lord was probably pissed at him for not attending breakfast with him, Izuku steels himself and begins to briskly walk in the direction he would certainly meet the other man.

With it being the late morning, the sun was making its way up high and the trees are casting significant shade on him as he walks between them. Rays of sunlight peeking through at him. He feels oddly much calmer now, despite knowing what he is walking into. It doesn't take long until he hears the footsteps of what sounds like a four-legged creature running in the forest. Which was a bit unnerving. He is expecting his Lord, but it's only natural to think of wolves, coyotes, or Mountain lions in these parts. It was almost a relief when he saw the creature ahead of him. Still a little frightening but seeing the familiar tuft of blond hair and that large body coming for him on all fours in the near distance had him come to a stop. Bracing himself for the inevitable tongue lashing he is about to get. Fully ready to take it on.

In almost an instant he felt his presence upon him. The breeze that followed the Lord at full sprint flows over him, his eyes shut, and he instinctively brings his hands up to shield his face. He opens his eyes and looks up at the furious crimson eyes boring into him. His frown was brought back into a snarl. Izuku initially felt frightened but quickly switched to being fascinated. Realizing that his teeth looked unusually canine. Not all of them, but an overwhelming majority of the teeth looked to belong to a wolf of some sort.

"DEKUUU!" The nickname comes out as a very deep rumbling growl. Izuku could feel his pulse rise, he's not sure if it's from fear or excitement.

"Y- ah ehem! YES!? What's the matter? I was just heading back!" Izuku forces a smile up at the blond, both hands gripping the strap to his satchel instinctively out of nervousness.

"HAAA?! Don't give me that load of shit! You were gonna run off and never return. Do you think I'm fucking stupid?"

"R- Run off-?!" Izuku jumps a little taken aback. "No! I wouldn't do that! I told you last night! I wanted to help!"

Katsuki looked at him, obviously not believing him at all. "Don't you dare lie to me! I should just throw you into a cell for daring to deceive me!" A large clawed scaly hand roughly grabs his left hand tugging him, snapping the satchels strap in the process. He then is suddenly grabbed by the waist and thrown over Katsuki's left shoulder like a sack. "Wha?! Wait my Lord! I can explain! Ah! Wait my bag!"

Katsuki ignored Izuku's pleas and with his left-hand hold on Izuku's legs, he uses his right to lunge forward and begins to run again like he did when he arrived.

Mina, Tsuyu, and Eijirou were still far behind but when they heard Katsuki running back towards them they stopped and watched him run past them with Izuku who looked terrified or maybe just shocked beyond all belief. They all watch as their Lord approaches the castle.

Tsuyu is the first to break the silence. "Well so much for that idea. I guess we better fix this somehow."

They all look at each other and nod, then follow at a run.

Before he knew it Izuku was being thrown into the cell his mother was in. He landed on the cobblestone flooring roughly. He jumps up quickly but Katsuki is faster and slams the bars shut.

"M- My Lord K- Katsuki please! I'm telling the truth I truly was out only to collect herbs! My satchel! It fell in the forest! It has all the herbs in there! J- Just let me get my-"

"NO! You aren't going anywhere! Not anymore..." He turns away from Izuku, snarling and looking off to the side with his face casted in the shadows. He then storms out leaving a dejected Izuku alone.

When Katsuki returns to the main floor he enters the room next to the main hall. His body still tense he finally lets out a long-agitated sigh. He slumps over and sits in a chair next to a window and slouches forward, running clawed fingers through his hair and over his horns, pressing his stiff scaly palms to his forehead, trying to will away the headache that had grown to exponential proportions. He hears the door connected to the front hall open and grumbles out a sigh as he knows without looking who it is.

"My! Ah haa haa -cough- My Lord!" Eijirou starts, obviously winded from running. "Wh- Where is Izuku?!"

"Deku's in his cell..." He grumbled.

Tsuyu, the one who seems to be not tired at all then speaks out. "My Lord I think it unwise to do anything that will make Izuku dislike you, given our circumstances. We need him to like you. You're throwing him into a cell is not helping one bit."

"FUCK I KNOW! Shit I- I know this already. I just need a moment, please."

The three look at each other confused. Did something happen in the forest that they missed out on? "Ejirou, Mina will you go check on Izuku?" Tsuyu asks quietly.

They nod and excuse themselves from the room. Tsuyu stands patiently, waiting for Katsuki to feel comfortable enough to talk.

At first, he was just angry. Pure rage as he ran through the forest searching for the curly headed fuck who decided to break his promise and leave! He was shocked to see him so close to the castle, and waiting for him when he came into view. The sight of his prey waiting for him caused him to smirk despite himself being in a state of rage. Was this guy a fool or what? Why was he so different from any other person who ever set foot before him in this form? He accelerated to his top speed and stopped just mere inches away from the smaller man. Standing tall above him. Once those eyes looked up to him and didn't look away. It only confused him further when Izuku was able to talk back to him. Like he was not a monster but a normal human. At the time though, he wasn't able to fully process all of this. He was just mad, angry that he thought the other man was going to take the first opportunity to bail and run home. Any sane person would. It's to be expected of anyone. At that point it was just a matter of taking what belonged to him and bringing him back, but now? Now he was just confused, and realized his mistake. He needed the little shit to like him. Otherwise what's the fucking point?! He probably ruined all chances and he hasn't even been there for twenty-four hours.

"He... He's different ya- know?" He finally says aloud.

Tsuyu who was still waiting patiently gave him her full attention. He finally brings his head up from his hands to look at her. The furrow still in his brow was not surprising, what was surprising was the very light blush on his cheeks, hardly noticeable. "How so my Lord?" She asks with a straight face.

"He sees me. Not a monster. But me as a man..." He grumbles out, looking away. Another drawn out sigh passes his lips. "I just fucked up, didn't I?"

"Not necessarily."

He looks back at her confused. "How so? I treated him like shit, he is in the cell that I put his mother in. A double reminder of why he should hate me with every fucking fiber of his being. If it were me and my mother..." He would vow do destroy and kill whoever would do such a thing to them. That's truthfully the kind of man he is, so even if he is seen as a man. He is still a man of zero tolerance and is very brash.

"You just need to apologize and let him out."

"What?! Apolo-"

"My Lord if you are to win the heart of our one and only visitor who can look at you as the man you are, then you have to do your best to court him."

The subtle blush was now full-blown red as his eyes grew wide in embarrassment. Everyone knew what the plan was, and how to break the curse. But having an actual person who is ideal for it and talking about it casually to his face was a little much for him to handle. He has very little clue as to how to court a commoner let alone a man. "Ughh..."

They stay there for a while silent until there was a knock on the door. Tsuyu walks over and opens it. Eijirou walks in with Izuku's satchel. "He asked me to retrieve his bag. It's full of a lot of different herbs that he had planned to use for us." Eijirou is wearing a sour look on his face, showing his obvious disappointment in Katsuki and his actions.

"Aaaah fucking, Shit! Fine. Okay I get it! I'll fucking apologize and let him out and whatever!"

Eijirou immediately lights up, a huge grin stretching across his hardened features. Tsuyu even offers a nice smile as well. Katsuki gets up from his seat and walks over to Eijirou and snatches the satchel from him. He then makes his way reluctantly down to the cells. As he goes down the stone steps he hears voices, no doubt Mina chatting away with the green haired man. Katsuki felt a knot swell in his throat. If Katsuki was anything he was a proud man. It was hard to admit he was in the wrong. So, when they got cursed it took a long time for him to come to terms with it. Himiko had made it very clear, the basis of the curse was from his actions. He didn't want to believe it. At the time he was just broody and angry, and he knew deep down, that he was wrong. That he needed to realize there was much more to being a good ruler then he originally believed. He grew up being praised by his quick learning and his genius. He knows now, that he had been too full of himself. He knows his shortcomings. It's just hard to change. Over the past few years Katsuki often would lose hope. He would brood in his study and tell the others to not disturb him. In understanding now, he takes in a deep breath and mentally prepares himself.

He approaches them, Mina shifts back so Katsuki can stand in front of the cell. Izuku is standing near the barred cell door, his arms at his sides and eyes looking weary, unsure what to expect. Katsuki, with his usual frown looks at him and with his key unlocks the cell. Izuku looks surprised, for he was only in the cell for about half an hour or so. "Wha?"

Once the door is fully opened Katsuki steps forward and roughly hands Izuku his satchel. He looks to the side, too embarrassed to look at him as he says. "I- I'm sorry! Alright?! I jumped to conclusions when I shouldn't have."

When there was nothing but silence a perturbed Katsuki decided to finally look at Izuku. Before he got to have a good look at him he feels a smack go across his face and he was looking to the side again. Shocked he whips his head over with a deep furrow on his brow. "What the fu-!"

"I forgive you."

Katsuki then takes in what he sees before him. Izuku is looking up at him obviously upset, with tears in his eyes. Katsuki looks at him with wide eyes. "Wha? Why the hell are you crying? Shit!" Not knowing what to do he just stands there looking lost. Something Eijirou, Tsuyu, or Mina have never seen him do before.

Still crying Izuku wipes his face then frowns at Katsuki. Voice a little shaky he continues to speak with a now stern tone. "You need to believe me when I say I want to help! And you need to learn to trust me! I understand I only just got here but that was a major over reaction. If you had come to me with a calm demeanor we wouldn't have this issue right now. But instead you yelled at me and jumped to conclusions on your own without even hearing me out! If I'm going to be living here from now on then we need to learn to communicate with each other properly! Can you please agree to at least try and do that? Please?"

Katsuki still not knowing how else to respond just nods in agreement. Izuku then relieved shows Katsuki the most beautiful smile his crimson eyes have ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on. "Thank you, Katsuki..."

The blond feels his heart skip a beat as he is amazed at how this guy had placed such an impact on him in such a short amount of time. He quickly averts his eyes deepening his frown. "Tch! Whatever, just next time let me know before you decide to run off somewhere alright?!" He crosses his arms, trying to play it cool.

"Okay! … OH!" Everyone looks at Izuku curiously. "I will be making some herbal remedies with these herbs and setting up some rituals but before we do any of that I would need to do a physical examination of everyone if it's not too much trouble. I don't know if your individual effects to the curse will have anything to aid in my studies but I need to gather as much information as possible. Will you all me willing to meet me in my room one at a time so that I can give you all a proper examination?"

"I don't mind. Anything to help." Tsuyu says. She gives Katsuki a knowing look, saying that he needs to agree.

He frowns and looks at Izuku. "Fine."

Mina and Eijirou also give him their approval.

"We should inform the others in the castle." Tsuyu informed Mina and Eijirou. They all excuse themselves to set up times for them and the other people in the castle to visit Izuku.

Katsuki turns away from Izuku and makes way for the stairs. Izuku follows him up with his satchel in his arms pressed against his chest. They both climb to the main floor, Katsuki keeps going up but Izuku exits. Going without breakfast was probably not the best idea. Now he was starving. He opens the door and exits the spiraling staircase tower, not noticing as crimson eyes silently watch him retreat.

Izuku meets with Tsuyu and her mother and politely asks for something simple to eat. They happily oblige and after eating he goes back up to his room to organize his herbs and prepare for his visitors.

It wasn't long till he heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"

Izuku looks up to see Eijirou smiling at him. "Hey"

Izuku smiles back. "Thank you for coming. Please have a seat."


	5. Physical Exams

"Thank you for coming. Please have a seat."

Izuku gestures toward the simple wooden desk chair that he had pulled out to face towards the bed where he had laid out multiple books and sheets of parchment with notes.

"Ah, thank you but it's ok. It would likely break underneath me." Eijirou smiles at him a little embarrassed while looking at the simple wooden chair.

"Oh! Of course! How silly of me. A guy of your stature made of stone, of course, your natural weight must have multiplied exponentially. Can you tell me if your whole body is stone? Are there any areas where you have soft tissue?"

"Not... that I know of." Eijirou's eyes widen, a little surprised by the question. He actually never thought about it. Trying to analyze it beyond what he just assumed was something that never even crossed his mind.

"Please come this way," Izuku instructs him over by the balcony glass panes, using the natural light to look at him. "Please open your mouth for me." Eijirou complies, bending down slightly and allowing Izuku to hold and tilt his jaw. He examines his mouth seeing that it was vacant of any natural saliva and flesh. Izuku pressed a finger down on the back of his tongue past his unusually sharp teeth, feeling stiff stone. "Do you feel this?"

"Uh, uh" He declines without the use of his tongue.

Izuku then presses his finger to the back of the throat to see that indeed the stone man had absolutely no feeling, not even a gag reflex. He feels even further down, a little past where he cannot see only to feel more stone. He removes his hand from his mouth and tests the elasticity of the tongue. It was obviously not muscle tissue like a normal tongue but felt almost like a thick clay that keeps its form even when applying pressure.

"Have you been eating at all since you were cursed?"

"Well, no. Can't say I didn't try though!" He laughs lightheartedly. "Not being able to feel much in my mouth made swallowing impossible and very awkward. It's not like I get hungry anymore anyway. I just miss it hehe."

"Hmm, interesting. I wish I could tell if your organs are functioning or not, but it doesn't seem that they are." Izuku then looks into his eyes. "Look to your left. Now your right. Hmm, amazing! The movement of your eyes are fluid and normal, they almost look like marble. Hmm, and you can see alright?"

"Uh, yea."

"Fascinating, I can't see your pupils at all since your cornea also turned to stone. So logically speaking it should have made you completely blind. This is amazing! How is your eyesight at night time? Is it normal or any different?"

"It's the same as before." Eijirou only gives simple answers since he is more than a little amazed with how Izuku is observing him and asking him things they never even thought about.

"Interesting..." Izuku then checks inside his ears the best he can. When he is satisfied he walks over to the desk.

There are blank parchment and a pen with ink waiting for him to use. He begins writing down his discoveries. He then approaches him again, ready to start asking more questions. Things that he has been wanting to know for a while now. "How long has it been since the curse began?"

"Five years."

"So, I assume that you have continued to grow since you don't look like a fourteen-year-old." Izuku smiles jokingly.

"Uh yeah, that's true haha."

"Also, only your body is made of stone, but your clothing is not. So, this isn't some strange twist on petrification. Petrification always results in turning man and anything on him to stone, and the man is unable to move, like a statue. This is obviously not the case. Please, if you don't mind, will you remove your leathers so that I may take a look at your torso."

"Eh! Umm... I always have a hard time changing, I'm not very flexible anymore. I haven't changed clothing for several months. Since I don't sweat I just wait till they are too damaged to wear anymore."

"Huh! Oh, okay sorry. Well then. Um, may I?" Izuku asked timidly. Eijirou smiles and nods at the smaller man, a little amused at his mannerisms. Izuku approaches him and helps him remove his leathers and shirt. Izuku then proceeds to examine Eijirou. A little amazed at first by his well fit physic. Izuku leans forward "Do you do a lot of physical activities that you think may have assisted in stimulating your growth in these past five years?"

"I guess so. I mean we had a lot of people from the castle who just vanished under the curse. Because of this, the workload has increased. Even Lord Katsuki has gotten his hands dirty helping us out with things. He often goes out to hunt with me or helps Tsu with feeding the few animals we still have. You know, things here and there." Izuku looks at him a little surprised, not really seeing this side of the blond yet.

"Mina wants to help too but... Well you know she can't touch anything that can burn or melt." Eijirou wears a small sad smile.

"So, can she touch you then?" Izuku asked genuinely curious.

"Eh?! Um yes…" Eijirou says, more than a little grateful right now that he doesn't have his flesh to show how much he would be blushing right now. It was a little embarrassing. She was a very good friend now. They didn't talk much before but now he greatly valued and respected her. She had felt so lonely when her family disappeared from the curse that he naturally felt like the manly thing to do was to comfort her. It just so happened that her curse didn't affect him.

"Wow. I guess there is a silver lining in everything. This is a terrible curse, but at least she isn't completely isolated from human contact. She must feel so grateful that you are here. I know I would." Izuku says innocently with a wide genuine smile on his face as he looks back up at Eijirou.

Eijirou not knowing what to say to that just nods. Is that how she feels? He knows she's good at hiding her feelings when she is troubled. She was a strong woman and doesn't want to worry anyone. She acted cheerful despite their situation.

Izuku helps him put his leathers back on and walks over to the bed where he picks up one of the books he had laid out there. Flipping through the pages he lands on one and begins reading.

"I think you have been transformed into something similar to a stone golem of some sort."

"A stone what?" Eijirou asks quizzically. This was all new to him, being one who grew up with training that was focused primarily on hunting and combat.

"A stone golem. Though, I never heard of a man becoming one. Usually, golems are created with real stones or whatever materials their creator chooses and then they are brought to life artificially. Depending on the creator the golem can take on many different forms. The people who make them are usually very artistic and use lots of creativity. But you are a man turned to stone and not petrified, you are animated, and your body looks to be made from multiple stones that are put together perfectly. They have movement and seams between them which is more like a golem, while petrification looks like a statue carved from a single stone. Whoever cursed you must be a very talented witch. This is something unheard of, well at least to my knowledge."

Eijirou tries to keep up with Izuku's analysis since it's a lot to take in but nods in agreement. "Wow, you were able to figure all of that out just from looking at me? That's really amazing Izuku!"

Izuku looks up from his book surprised. He then responds bashfully. "Oh, gee haha thank you! I've never done this before. People usually see me as an odd one for studying all of this stuff for fun, but I'm just happy I can finally be of help. I just hope that I actually figure out something useful after all this. Eijirou, thank you so much for coming. You have been very helpful, and I can't wait to take this data to further analyze possible ways to fight this curse."

Izuku reaches out a hand to shake. Kirishima feels a surge of excitement and reminds himself to carefully shake the other man's hand and not crush it in a stone hard grip. "I'm excited too! I'm glad you're here! Just don't hole yourself up all the time studying. Be sure to take breaks and hang out with the rest of us! You seem really nice and we all would love to get to know you better." Eijirou then lightly pats him on the back, leaning down to his level with a huge grin.

"Hehe, yes of course. I will be sure to. Thank you again Eijirou. I will see you later."

"Thank you too Izuku. See ya!" Eijirou then excuses himself and exits the room.

With his book still in one hand, Izuku grabs his new notes in the other and heads over to the desk. He takes a seat and looks over everything to continually compare Eijirou's ailment with the ins and outs of petrification, golems, and other possible related curses and spells.

He gets visited by a couple people he has yet to meet. One was a soldier named Shinji, who was sworn to the Bakugou family. He was now a woodman, similar to Kirishima being a stone man. Though it would seem that Shinji was not 'carved' but was essentially a living moving tree. His whole body looked to be a tree trunk with bark as his skin. He had small sapling-like branches sticking out at random points of his body, and a mossy head.

At the end of their session, Shinji told Izuku about how he is the only soldier out of 200 men who remained in the castle grounds and expressed his concern for the safety of those who are still here virtually unprotected with only one experienced soldier to protect them. During this time of peace, the rest of the soldiers sworn to the Bakugou's are living with their families throughout the land, unaware of what has befallen their Lords and Lady.

Not long after Shinji left he had come back. Izuku was surprised when he was introduced to another cursed member of the castle, the former Keeper of the Wardrobe Miss Yu. She was escorted by Shinji because of her curse ailment, now she can't get around the large castle very easily. She had been shrunk to the small size of a mere five inches tall. She had made herself new clothing to fit her new size and said that her body still works normally, she is just too small to do anything anymore aside from mending clothing. But she has to rely on Tsu to help with washing and all other wardrobe duties.

Mina visited shortly later. Izuku learned from her that she can change her form at will and can break apart and come back together. She can touch stone and metal but if she focuses she can cause those to slowly erode as well. Izuku tells her that she most closely relates a mythical Slime creature, but never heard of them having the form of a human. She is the first Slime girl he has ever heard of. Perhaps he needed access to more books on the subject. Everyone's curses are so unique and yet similar. It's going to be hard to look into ways of fighting their conditions if he tries to do them all individually.

The next to stop by his room is Tsuyu and her mother. They greet him with a lunch on a tray for him to eat. Izuku exclaims a thank you, informing them that when he gets wrapped up in his studies he often forgets nourishment. Tsu's mother, Beru, insists that Izuku eats first before he starts their physical exams. He reluctantly agrees and eats the food they prepared for him.

During the froggy mother-daughter duo's exam, Katsuki was finishing his dinner. He was to visit Deku last. Tsuyu had made a point to tell him to be nice when he goes to see him, and to try to get on his good side.

He grumbles to himself, "the problem is I have no fucking clue where to start to get the nerd to fall in love with me, or even just like me." He huffs to himself dejectedly. He'd been trying to be less of an ass over the years. He has really gotten a lot closer to everyone who got cursed along with him since it all began. It made him realize even though he was never intentionally mean to them before, he may have taken them for granted.

After finishing up his meal he gets up and heads over to the library. The guy was really into books, right? He said he already was one to read things on witchcraft and mythological stuff. Things they all thought were just stories, that turned out to be truer then Katsuki would have liked to know. He'll grab a few books for him, and hope that it will help him in capturing the freckled man's heart. As he enters the library he looks over the books on his desk. These books are the ones he pulled out about the curse previously but Deku will probably like them even if there is nothing of use in them.

He looks over to the large grandfather clock in the library, it's almost 8 pm. Thinking that Tsuyu and her mother would probably be done and back working in the kitchen and hall by now, Katsuki grabs the four books he had on his desk and heads down the stairs leading to Deku.

He now stands in front of the door nervously. He feels anticipation welling up inside him. Ok, don't fuck this up. He thinks then pushes down the foreign feelings that decided to well up on him and knocks on the door.

Izuku looks up from his seat in front of the desk to the door and quickly gets up to greet his next visitor. He opens the door and his heart skips a beat as he looks up and sees Katsuki sharply peering down at him. He is wearing his signature scowl that Izuku has come to believe is permanently etched into the young Lords frightening yet handsome features.

"Ah my Lord! Thank you so much for coming! P- please, come inside." Izuku steps aside for the taller beast of a man to walk in.

Katsuki's frown deepens but he steps inside nonetheless. He looks around as Izuku shuts the door behind him. He sees how Izuku has made himself at home in his old room. The desk has been completely rearranged and now has notes scattered about and an open book. A lamp now lit at the far end of the desk. The bed also has a few things laid out on it, the satchel with the herbs inside it, and several more sheets full of notes and a couple books.

Katsuki walks up to Izuku and shoves the stack of books he's holding onto the shorter man's arms. "These are for you. I hope they are to your liking."

Izuku puzzled looks up at the blond who is averting his eyes still with the same scowl on his face, then back down to the stack of books currently in his arms. Reading the title of the one on the top of the stack, his eyes grow wide.

"Complex book of Witchcraft! Th- this! This is an actual book that has information about different spells?!"

Katsuki grunts in affirmation as he peeks at Izuku with a side glance, seeing how his face seems to glow with excitement and a blinding smile. Izuku looks up at him as his brows knit together and he starts shaking with excitement.

"Wuaaaaaah! Thank you so much! This is so amazing! Most of the books I've been able to get my hands on were just old stories and dramatical lore but…but this!"

Izuku then excitedly scurries over to the bed and plops the books down to get a better look at them. Katsuki closely follows behind him and says. "I figured you'd have a use for these. They're yours now."

Izuku snaps his head over so fast he almost gets whiplash and asks. "Y- you mean to keep?! I can have them?"

"You live here with me now. If you want it, it's yours. All you need to do is tell me… No big deal." Katsuki says as he crosses his scaled arms over his chest.

Izuku can't help but gape at him as the shock settles in. The same Lord Katsuki who had thrown him into a cell just earlier that day was now being so, so nice!

After a moment Katsuki starts to get annoyed being stared at. "Hey! Get your head out of the clouds. Aren't we supposed to be starting an exam?"

The shorter man straightens up in surprise. "Oh yes of course. Please have a seat. I'm sorry. "

Katsuki grunts as he walks over to the desk and pulls the chair out to face Izuku and sits down. He can't help but notice the personal charts that were on the desk. Izuku had made a page full of notes on each person who had visited him that day, included with drawings.

For some reason the first thing that crossed Katsuki's mind was cute.

Cute?

Never in his life has he ever called anything cute. And he definitely didn't think Izuku was cute before. I must be going mad finally. He muses to himself.

Izuku moves the lamp on the desk closer to the front of the surface near Katsuki to be sure to have good lighting. Luckily it was summer, so the room wasn't in complete darkness yet. The would be setting soon though, so the lamp would be necessary.

"I'm just going to check a few things like your eyes, ears, and mouth, then move on to examine your other unique traits."

"Just hurry it up!" Katsuki spits out.

Izuku's expression changes to worry and Katsuki mentally curses himself. "I mean… you don't have to explain it to me. Just do what you gotta do." He pouts while averting his eyes.

Izuku lets out a small sigh of relief as he gives an amused smile towards the blond. He steps in front of him then gently places his hand on Katsuki's cheek and lifts his chin up as he bends down slightly to look into his eyes.

As Izuku checks his eyes Katsuki can't help but look into his as well. His eyes are green but they seem to shine with a slight bluish tinge around the iris.

"My Lord are your eyes naturally crimson or did they change?"

"...Katsuki."

"What?"

"Just call me Katsuki." He continues to look into his eyes as if to dare him to say no.

"O…okay, Katsuki." Izuku feels a little embarrassed but relents. Not wanting to spoil Katsuki's seemingly good mood.

Katsuki seems satisfied as he loosens up and lets out a long breath through his nose.

"It's my natural eye color…"

Izuku nods, not surprised. The eyes seemed human enough, red being not unheard of just uncommon.

"Please open your mouth for me."

Katsuki hesitates, knowing his teeth are probably intimidating. Now that he has mentally prepared himself to court the shorter man, he doesn't want to scare him off. He takes a moment and looks at Izuku; He can tell that the man looks to be focused and intrigued, but in no way scared. This helps the blond feel a little bit more comfortable and at ease as he opens his mouth.

Izuku silently gasps as he sees a mixture of human and canine teeth. The human teeth being only the front, four on top six on the bottom, the rest looks to belong to a wolf, but some looked to be abnormally sharp, belonging to maybe another creature he is not familiar with.

"Stick your tongue out?"

He does, and Izuku immediately sees his tongue and throat looks normal, human.

"Okay."

Katsuki closes his mouth and Izuku looks over his face more closely now. Normal human nose and brows. Creamy white skin spread across most of the face, except for dark scales that frame it. They start from each side of his temple and travel down the sides of his jaw just below the ears where it spreads down the neck.

The ears are uniquely shaped; Pointed, unlike any animal he has ever seen but looked human otherwise. The inside looked normal as well.

Izuku then observes his horns, admiring the depth the dark bone had and the thin orange stripe that wrapped around them. Three on each side, one long, medium, and short from top to bottom. The bottom one sitting just above his ears. He dragged his fingers along them gently feeling the grooves, noticing that there were absolutely no scratches or nicks on them.

Katsuki feels on edge the whole time. While staring at Izuku's buttons, he tries not to say or do anything in an attempt to keep the whole exchange with the smaller man a positive one. Being scrutinized so thoroughly was very taxing. He'd gotten used to the face of fear being directed at him with screams usually following shortly after.

He glances upwards and his eyes widen as he sees an expression of admiration and unfiltered wonder on Izuku's face with a soft smile. Katsuki could feel his face warm up slightly at the sight.

It was nice. Katsuki was realizing that his impression of the smaller man has never settled on one thing. Rather his opinion of him keeps changing from the moment he first laid eyes on him to now. It was both invigorating and made him a little uncomfortable. This was not something he was very used to. He is nervous but wants this to work. He knew he still looked human enough that you could see he was handsome, just still frightening and not human. Unfortunately, he's already made a bad impression on the shorter man. It will take time and patience. Patience being something he has never had much of. This was going to be hard, especially if Deku keeps looking at him like that.

His stupid face was really helping his ego, which hasn't been properly stroked in many years now. Katsuki was craving it that feeling now. It was something he hadn't felt in so long.

Izuku then looking behind Katsuki's ears sees where his blond locks taper off to a mane down his back as well as his dark scales that come down his neck which are obscured by the fabric of his shirt on his shoulders.

"May we remove your shirt?" Izuku asks politely.

Katsuki flinches, not expecting it, but was mentally prepared to behave himself for the sake of breaking the curse. He nods. "Sure…"

Izuku assists him in pulling his poet shirt over his head with ease. Katsuki notices he struggled a lot less than Tsuyu who no longer has human fingers.

Izuku looks at the shirt that has been slightly damaged. "It's a shame such a beautiful shirt gets torn so badly. Have you thought of just wearing leathers like Eijirou? I bet it would hold up much better."

"Yea. It's just I... Don't want to wear my father's leathers, and mine are too small for me now. Yu can't make me any in her condition anymore."

Izuku nods in affirmation. He finds it odd though, shouldn't there be plenty of leathers for their soldiers? He decides not to question it and lays the shirt on his bed. Katsuki is leaning on his elbows as Izuku comes back over and looks at his back and arms.

Katsuk's arms are one hundred percent scales and claws despite still being the anatomy of a human they were very beast-like and intimidating. the claws were over an inch long, thick, and seemed to be the same black bone material as his horns. There are short bone like spines that would protrude from his joints, like his knuckles and elbows. The dark smooth scales spread from his arms onto his back and stop halfway on his shoulder blades.

Eyes sparkling in wonder, Izuku engraves every last detail to memory. He then looks over to the mane. He can see now that the mane goes all the way down his back and into the back of his pants, confirming that it is most definitely connected to the tail. The tail has a hole in the back of the pants that it is hanging from. The mane fades from his wheat like blond to a light ash sliver from top to bottom. He couldn't help himself as he reaches out and felt the hairs. He feels the blond flinch in surprise as he strokes him, but before he gets the chance to worry about angering the man he gets distracted by something he felt. Hidden in the fur Izuku felt more spines, not sharp, about an inch apart and protruding from his spine. He split the fur to get a better look. It was most definitely the same bone as his horns as well, these spines are black with the same orange color on the tip of each spine.

After taking it all in, Izuku walks around to view Katsuki's front. Katsuki frowns as he sits up properly so the other can see. Izuku can't help but realize that Katsuki is just as built as Eijirou and Shinji seemed to be. He figured this showed that Eijirou was telling the truth when he said that their Lord has been pulling his weight as well when it came to work.

The scales from the arms only spread to the beginnings of his collarbone, most of his front was human still. Izuku saw pale skin all the way down.

"Your front is still mostly human, from your face all the way down…" He looks at his feet, which definitely look like a lion. They were very large, Izuku wasn't sure if this size was normal or not for a lion but they were impressive. "Pardon me… umm, Katsuki? I need to feel your legs."

Katsuki looks at him but after a moment he nods. Izuku then kneels down in front of him as he feels the muscle beneath the fabric. They felt strong and built like a human from hip to knee. He could tell the fur started mid thigh. After the knee was still very strong. It was similar, but a bit differently shaped from humans. Izuku felt the fur around the ankle and down to the claws. He lifted a paw and just couldn't believe that this was a normal size, this had to be bigger than a normal lion. He had to use both hands to hold up one paw.

' _I wonder if the bigger size helps in better walking upright, adjusting to having completely different feet must have been hell to deal with. Oh, but having a tail also aids in keeping a good center of balance so maybe it wasn't as terrible as it could have been.'_

"It was fucking hell."

Izuku looks up at Katsuki surprised, not realizing he was speaking aloud, or even loud enough to hear him clearly. People usually don't catch exactly what he mutters.

"Is your hearing heightened?" He asks amazed with wide eyes.

"Seems that way." He sighs. "I can hear most of what happens in the castle from how the place echoes. It's damn annoying but I'll take it since we have less security now." He frowns as Izuku stands back up.

"I see. That's amazing. And it explains a lot." Izuku gives a crooked smile as he remembers the first time he heard the man roar in the castle when he first arrived just yesterday.

Katsuki's scowl just deepens as he stares at the shorter man. Izuku feeling nervous under the stare gives a little chuckle and hesitantly moves to walk over to the desk. He bends over and starts scribbling information down. He then flipped through several pages of the open book on the desk and starts reading something he was seemingly searching for.

After another moment Izuku is flipping through more pages, reading, then and few more and reading again. All the while writing more information. He then finally stands up straight and turns to Katsuki. "I have come to the conclusion that you've been transformed into a Chimera. Chimera's are usually made up of parts from a feline, reptile, and hoofed animals. You have all three with a few added characteristics, your human ones, your pointed ears, and your canine-like teeth. You are an exceptional Chimera specimen! And it doesn't end there! I'm not positive, but I think your reptilian animal characteristics are that of a dragon! This is amazing!"

Izuku seems to be on another plane of existence as Katsuki looks at his face that looks to be euphoric. He couldn't help but blush a little at what seemed to be praise or admiration, even if all that is being praised is just the curse anyway.

"So… so what now Deku?"

Izuku looks at him surprised then smiles. "Well I was hoping after breaking down everyone's individual curses and such I can try a different array of rituals and remedies that work well against it. I still have to do a little more studying and the books you gave me will probably help with that. Once again thank you so much!"

Katsuki looks at him wide-eyed. Deku was thanking him again, like as if he was doing him a favor and not keeping him against his will in this castle. Katsuki isn't sure if he should think that the guy is just confident and not scared of him at all or if he is just an idiot. Who in their right mind would be grateful in the situation he was in right now?

A fool.

Katsuki then gets up from his chair and stands in front of the smaller man. "If you want more books you're welcome to come to visit me in the library tomorrow. There's plenty there for you."

Izuku looks up at him with stars in his eyes and Katsuki doesn't know what to think anymore.

"I- I would LOVE to!" Izuku exclaims with a huge grin and the only things on his mind are real creatures to investigate and a grandiose library for him to raid. It's a fantasy nerds dream come true.

Katsuki grunts. Now satisfied he walks to the bed, snatches up his shirt and walks to the door. "Come to breakfast in the morning, I will show you the library after we eat."

"Th…Thank you uh ah K…Katsuki."

Katsuki nods in affirmation, then opens the door to leave. He shuts the door behind him and heads to his room, with a satisfied smirk on his face. Feeling he did a good job and got the smaller man to smile a lot.

Back in the small village its night time and Inko rides back into the Village with her mended carriage and all her supplies. Her face is grim, worrying about her son. She rides past the Inn and the big hefty man Chatora who works at the Inn is outside. He looks up to Inko to greet her. "Good evening ma'am. It's good to see you are home."

"Ah, thank you Chatora." Inko forces a smile.

"Shino had said Izuku left to find you. Did you not cross paths?"

Inko flinches at the question but it goes unnoticed to the man. She continues to smile. "Ah no we did! I was just running a little behind schedule. Izuku stayed behind because there was some work that came in for him at the port he just couldn't pass up on. So, he won't be coming back home… for a while." Inko couldn't hide her distress as a few tears began to well up in her eyes. Chatora walks up to the carriage and places a hand on hers.

"Ma'am, would you like me to help you unload your things? It's getting late and you've had a long journey."

Inko smiles at him as she wipes her tears away. "Y…yes, that would be nice. Thank you."

Chatora nods and turns to the door of the Inn, he looks in and see's Shoto nearby cleaning off a table. "Shoto, I'll be back. I'm going to help Mrs. Inko with unloading her carriage."

Shoto looks at him for a moment and nods. "Okay."

Chatora walks away and Shoto walks over to the door to watch them leave. Seeing that Izuku had not come back with her. He frowns, wondering where the freckled man could be.


End file.
